Rogue's Gallery
by Clever Lass
Summary: Post-X2 fic. Pyro's presence in Rogue's mind is driving her nuts and keeping her from joining the X-Men. Logan helps her cope, in his inimitable way; meanwhile, Hank McCoy makes a surprising discovery.
1. Grieving

Takes place immediately after X2: Reunion

Chapter 1

It was dusk when the jet landed back at Xavier's, and the mood was very subdued. The team quietly changed out of their uniforms and hung them up, and no one spoke. Rogue had been self-conscious at first, about changing in front of her teachers and Logan – and Bobby! – but no one looked at anyone else, preferring to keep his or her grief private.

Professor Xavier called Scott and Logan into his office to speak with them privately, and just as they were finished Piotr showed up with the rest of the students who had escaped the raid. Logan, mindful of what the professor had just said, gave Scott some reassurance about Jean's feelings before they separated.

Dinner was quiet too, and afterwards Scott and Logan, with a wordless understanding, headed for the liquor cabinet together. Kurt Wagner was introduced to the rest of the students – it turned out he had already met Kitty before – and was settling in. Bobby ate with Rogue, but they didn't talk much. He wanted to spend the evening with her and have a private debriefing, but she explained that with Pyro in her head, she needed some time alone. What she really meant was, she needed some time away from Bobby. With him and Pyro having been best friends, she was finding Bobby very confusing to be around. After their kiss in Boston, she had just a hint of Bobby himself in there as well. Already she had had to bite back some retorts that were the product of her inner battles, rather than her low, desultory conversation with her boyfriend.

The next day, they had Jean's memorial service in the morning and then her wake. People ate their lunches and talked about Jean – it was not so much a funeral as a "celebration of her life," according to Professor Xavier.

Later, in the afternoon, called a meeting of all the X-men and students. He introduced the new doctor he had hired a week ago, a mutant named Hank McCoy, whose codename was "Beast" because of the form of his mutation. He introduced "The Incredible Nightcrawler" as well, and invited Kurt to stay with them as long as he liked. Kurt graciously accepted the offer, and after a few other words, Xavier closed the meeting. As people were filing out, he asked, "Rogue. Logan. If you aren't busy right now, I would like to meet with the two of you in my office."

Rogue shrugged at Bobby's questioning look, and joined Logan in the professor's office.

Xavier took a moment to gather his thoughts as he viewed the unlikely friends before him. Rogue sat gracefully, while Logan sprawled, scowling, in an armchair. His arms were folded and he looked as if he'd rather be anywhere than here.

"Thank you both for coming," Xavier said finally. "What I have to say affects both of you, and I would prefer that you keep it confidential for now. You should know that I am considering some additions to the team, and have been thinking about them for some time. I had even gone so far as to speak with Jean about them, and with Scott." A flash of pain crossed his eyes as he spoke Jean's name, then it was gone.

"What does this have to do with us?" Logan asked, staring out the window.

"Well, Logan, I had planned, upon your return, to offer you one of the spots. With special considerations, of course, and an agreement worked out beforehand regarding your absences and your… let's call them 'extracurricular activities'. I had been considering a couple of the younger people as well, but taking recent events into account, I can only feel comfortable promoting one of them."

He gave Rogue a paternal smile. "Rogue, there's a spot on the team for you as well, if you want it."

Rogue blinked. "A team member? Me? You mean you want me to be an X-man?"

Xavier nodded, smiling. "This past year, and especially these past few days, you have repeatedly shown skill, clear thinking in a crisis, and excellent mental discipline. I think you are ready to start the serious training, if you wish it. And Logan, I hope you'll find no fault with her decision, whatever she decides."

Logan's scowl deepened. "What's it got to do with me?"

Xavier explained, "Since the incident with Sabretooth, shortly after you met each other, I am aware that you have viewed Rogue as your responsibility to some extent."

Logan's eyes flicked over to Rogue's, then back, and he nodded. "Yeah, I told her I'd take care of her. Why?"

"Simply that I would like your blessing on her promotion," Xavier said. "Legally, she is an adult and can make her own decisions, but I would like to make sure you are all right with this too. After all, if you both accept, then you'll be team-mates."

Rogue snorted. The two men looked at her questioningly and she blushed. "Uh, sorry," she said. "But my mental Wolverine is having a tantrum at the thought. I'm just dying to hear how the real one feels about it." She grinned.

Logan shrugged. "Well, kid, it's your decision. It's pretty dangerous, but you know that. I'm not too keen on your flying missions and risking your life all the time, but I think you've proved you can handle yourself." He paused to consider, and added, "And the Blackbird."

Rogue smiled back, then asked, "Professor, what about Bobby? Is he going to be an X-man too?"

Xavier's face tightened up a little. "Not just yet, Rogue. We feel he still needs some more training before he will be ready to don the uniform permanently."

"Is it 'cause he didn't freeze the lake?" Logan asked quietly.

Xavier did not reply, but his expression made Logan nod to himself. He could understand Xavier's not wanting to discuss it in front of Bobby's girlfriend, but he was pretty sure he could figure out why Bobby had been asked to give back his black leather uniform after their visit to the President. Here was one mutant with the power to actually do something about all that water that had claimed Jean's life – and instead he had sat shaking in his chair while she drowned. He hadn't even tried to help. Not to mention he had done nothing to help when John had fired the police cars. Instead it was Rogue who had taken the initiative and temporarily stolen John's powers. Xavier had gleaned the whole story from everyone's minds.

To break the tension, Rogue said, "Professor, what would I be doing? Wouldn't I need more training?"

"Yes," Xavier replied. "Scott and Storm are working up a training schedule for you, and you'd be starting next week. You'll be learning to fly the jet – not that you didn't do a fine job for a beginner – learning combat techniques, training in the Danger Room, and apprenticing with Hank to learn some field medicine."

Logan shifted uncomfortably at the mention of the "replacement" doctor. "So was that all you wanted to talk about?" he asked.

"Not precisely. Logan, I would like to offer you a spot, not only on the team, but on the teaching staff as well. I know that you're familiar with many combat techniques, and I thought you might be willing to help with Rogue's training." Having laid all his cards on the table, Xavier sat back to calmly wait for the decision.


	2. Deciding

_See part 1 for disclaimer._

Chapter 2

Restless, Logan stood up and headed for the door. He gathered Rogue with a glance and when she joined him at the door he told Xavier, "Give us a couple of days to think about it, Charles." Xavier nodded. Outside the door, Logan turned to Rogue. "Well, come on, kid, want to get some dinner with me? We got some stuff to talk about."

"Sure, I guess."

"Wear the leather." He felt like taking the bike.

A short while later, having ordered their food at a local steakhouse, they finally relaxed. Logan got out a cigar and squinted across the table at Rogue while he lighted it. "So… Rogue, the X-man," he said. "How do you feel?"

"Terrified," Rogue admitted with a smile. "How about Logan the X-man?"

"Doesn't scare me as much as 'Logan the teacher,'" he replied. He shook his head. "I dunno about this, kid. I think Xavier's trying to rush us both a little. Thinks we'll make snap decisions 'cause we're grievin'." He took a sip of his beer. "I don't like it."

"You gonna stick around?" Rogue asked. Logan's eyes widened and he almost choked on his mouthful of beer.

"What?" he snapped.

"I was just wondering how long you were gonna stick around this time," Rogue asked. "You don't usually stay in one place for too long. Why, what's the matter?"

"Jean…" Logan swallowed painfully. "I told Jean I could be a good guy for her, and she told me that the good guy sticks around."

Rogue reached across the table with her gloved hand and carefully placed it atop his. "Logan, I'm sorry. I know you loved her. I did too, in my way. But she had a pretty narrow view of what makes a good guy."

Logan clutched her fingers convulsively as she tried to withdraw them. "You think?" he asked hoarsely.

"No, I _know._"

"Tell me." He let go of her hand and she began to idly tracing circles in the water spots on the table.

"Jean's ideal of a good guy was Scott. She liked you because you were the opposite of Scott, but then she felt ashamed of liking you. She wasn't broad-minded enough to realize that there's more than one kind of good guy.

"Most mutants have problems, you know. Bobby's parents were pretty freaked, as you saw. Jones' parents didn't want him at home because his dad wanted to control the television, for heaven's sake. Hayley was abandoned at birth because she has fur. My family disowned me when I put my boyfriend into a coma, and I haven't heard from them since then. But Logan, at least I can remember my parents. You're a mutant with more baggage and problems than most, and you can't even remember most of them!"

"Thanks, kid. You're really makin' me feel better," Logan said drily.

Rogue impatiently waved aside his comment. "The point is, Logan, none of us can decide what another mutant's needs are. You can run off to your little cabin in Alberta to do your grieving by yourself, and still be a good guy. You've saved my life twice –"

"Nearly killed you once, though," Logan interjected.

Rogue brushed his comment aside and went on. "Yeah, so what. I've nearly killed you twice, and I still like to think of myself as a good guy. You've helped the team twice now. You can be a good guy and still do what you need to do, Logan."

There was a long silence, and then Logan asked, "So how'd you know about my cabin?"

Rogue grinned as the waitress appeared with their food, and tapped her temple. "Sugar, I know you better than anyone else in the world. Don't make me prove it, 'cause I can. Want me to name names?"

Logan grunted and said nothing, wisely deciding to concentrate on eating his steak. Rogue chuckled.

After a while, he said, "Well, even if I go off for a while, I'll still have to come back to supervise your combat training."

"Why, you don't think Scott can do it?" Rogue teased.

Logan twitched an eyebrow to express his contempt for Scott's combat ability. "He does okay for a boy scout, I guess," he conceded. "But Rogue, you're not gonna be fightin' boy scouts. You're gonna hafta learn how to kick ass, down and dirty."

Rogue nodded. It was something she had already thought about, asking Wolverine for combat training, for the very reason he mentioned. "It's true, I guess. My mutant power is only good for getting up close and personal with people. Not like Scott's or Storm's. I don't even heal that fast if they get in a good blow. Not like you do. I've been doing a little training already, but – "

Logan grinned. "Kid, when I'm finished teachin' ya, you won't have to worry about them getting in any blows. And remember, a fight is only as personal as you make it." He seemed antsy, ready to leap off the bench and demonstrate.

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Ease off, Logan. I'm not in the mood to do any training tonight. No beatings tonight, okay?"

He swallowed his last bite of steak and looked up with the steak knife still in his hand. "Too bad," he muttered. His expression was closed, and he looked around the steak house a little desperately.

Rogue sighed. Her inner Wolverine was telling her exactly what was going though her dinner companion's mind. "All right, come on," she said, getting to her feet. "We're leaving."


	3. Catharsis

_It all belongs to Stan Lee and Marvel comics._

Logan paid for the dinner with a puzzled air and followed her out. Seeing her head directly towards the somewhat rough bar across the street, he caught her arm. "Hey kid, what's this about?"

Rogue slid out of his grip and insinuated her arm through his in one smooth motion, so that suddenly he found himself escorting her instead of detaining her. "We're going in there," she said. "Some jerk is going to hit on me, he'll be too drunk to take 'no' for an answer, and you'll have a chance to kick someone's ass. Think that'll be a good enough excuse?"

Logan lifted one quizzical eyebrow as he looked at her. Closely-fitted trousers, a low-cut blouse, eye-catching hair, and her trademark scarf and gloves. "Yeah, that'll do," he said, smirking. "I wouldn't give you five minutes alone in there, lookin' like you do."

It took four minutes. Logan left Rogue at a table while he went to get them drinks, and while he was gone a group of four guys at a nearby table decided the unusual-looking young woman was going to be theirs.

"Go on, Brett, buddy," the biggest one's pals urged him. Brett was big, blond, bland, and beefy. All four men were wearing wrestling team fraternity jackets from NYU, and from their slurred speech and the number of empty bottles at their table, they had been there a while. "Go on," said a dark haired one. "Her old man's up at the bar; now's your chance."

"Naw, he ain't her old man," said the sharp-featured frat boy across the table from Brett. "She don't look anything like him."

"Maybe he'sh her pimp, Hatch," joked the dark-haired one with a drunken chuckle.

"In that case maybe Brett can't afford her, Skip," laughed Hatch.

"Naw, Brett'sh got more money than God. But shtill, what about the guy she came in with?" Skip gestured toward the bar.

Brett scanned the crowds at the bar for the short hairy dude the girl had come in with. He found him and smirked. "I'll take my chances with the little girly. The old dude don't look that tough." Bolstered by his beer and buddies, Brett got up and approached Rogue's table. He pulled out a chair and sat down.

"Hey, what's up? Haven't seen you in here before, baby. And I think I'd remember you." Brett turned on the charm.

"First time," Rogue said shortly.

"Hey, wanna ditch the old man and come hang out with me and my brothers over there? We'd be more fun than him."

"No, thanks."

"Aw, come on, baby. He don't take care of you that well, leavin' you all alone in here. Better you come with me… uh, what's your name, anyway?"

"Never mind."

Brett leaned over closer, partially so he could see down her shirt and partially because he was convinced the girl was just playing hard to get. "Come on, baby. You'll be happier with us, I promise." He put his arm around her, leaning close to whisper "Don't make me use force, baby. I'm a wrestler; I know all kinds of holds."

Rogue twisted away from him angrily, and then Logan appeared behind her would-be suitor.

Brett's chair was kicked out from under him. He landed hard on the floor in a wet puddle of his own beer, and was on his feet in a second. It was the old hairy guy, Brett saw with a sneer. The guy got right in Brett's face and said with a quiet menace, "You wanna keep your hands off the lady, bub?"

"You wanna make me?" Brett was high on alcohol and adrenaline.

"Yeah!" The reply was brief, but utterly sincere. Wolverine grabbed Brett by the collar and dragged him out the back door.

The back door faced an alley, and Brett's three friends exchanged smirks at the thought of the old guy's getting his nuts handed to him on a platter. Brett was the best wrestler on the team. The dark-haired guy, Skip, had started drinking earlier than his mates, and drunkenly waved them out. "Go on, go on. I'll shave the table, but I'll want a blow-bly-blow later on."

The two other blond guys grinned at each other and followed Brett and the hairy guy out into the alley.

Skip finished up his own beer, then cast coveteous eyes at the other two beers. "They'll never notish," he told himself as he finished first one, than the other. Then he looked up and cast covetous eyes at the girl who had started the fight.

Rogue looked cool and collected as she sipped the coke that Logan had brought her. She reached over with a casual foot and righted the chair that Logan had kicked over, and glanced at her watch. Midnight. Great. Not only was she going to have to make excuses to Bobby, but she was going to have to think of something to tell Scott as well. She only hoped Logan was enjoying himself out there. She suspected that the appearance of the wrestler's two buddies probably made his night.

A shadow fell over her, and she looked up to see the dark-haired frat boy who had stayed behind. "Hey, girl," he said. "You don't look too worried about your man out there. Guess he ain't that important to ya, huh?"

Rogue rolled her eyes. Great. Another one. "Sure he is," she said cheerfully. "I just got no call to be worried, that's all."

"You sure about that, Whitey?" Skip taunted. "'Cause when my boys get through with him, he'sh gonna be changin' coloursh and mending bonesh for a month." He grinned evilly and placed a hopeful hand on her shoulder. "You shoulda come over with Brett in the firsht place."

Rogue stiffened. That hand on her shoulder was dangerously close to the skin on her neck. In one swift movement, she shrugged it off and stood up to face him.

"Listen, Skippy, keep your hands off me, or my friend's gonna have to thrash you too!"

Skip didn't know how she knew his name, but he was tall enough to be enjoying the view down the girl's shirt. "Like he could," he scoffed. "He's probably begging my boysh for mercy right now." He reached for her again.

Rogue's eyes narrowed. She slapped his hand away.

"Look, bitch," Skip began, but Rogue interrupted him.

"Any sentence that starts out like that isn't gonna end well for ya, Skippy. Just leave, okay?"

Skip gave her a shove. Rogue caught her balance quickly. Rearing back, she slammed her forehead into his nose. Skip clutched at it. Blood trickled through his fingers. Rogue surprised him with a knee to the groin, and he doubled over.

Roaring in pain, Skip drew back his fist and let it fly.


	4. An Icy Reception

Rogue could have been watching him in slow motion, for all the danger she was in. This guy was big, drunk, angry, and slow. He telegraphed his punch whole seconds before it would have landed. She had plenty of time to duck aside, get behind him, and give him a vigorous kick to the kidneys.

Down he went. Tables and chairs smashed and Skip landed in a tangle of chair legs and other bar patrons.

Some of the other bar patrons who had begun watching the scene with interest applauded her, but there were a couple of angry murmurs as well.

Logan hurried over and took her arm. "You okay, kid?" he asked, surveying the damage and the passed-out frat boy. He sniffed, smelling blood, but it didn't appear to be Rogue's.

"Never better, Wolvie. Guess I was in the mood for a beating after all. How 'bout you?" she asked sweetly.

He shot her a look that was deeply expressive of his satisfaction. "I'm cool. It was good of you to send out the other two for me. Now let's go before the cops show up." He put his arm around her and steered her toward the door.

As they were getting off the bike in Xavier's garage, he stopped for a second and asked her, "'Wolvie?'"

Rogue shrugged. "Don't ya like it? I didn't want to use your real name out there." She didn't mention that it's what she always called the Logan in her head, in order to distinguish him from the real one.

Logan shrugged and grunted. "Least it's not a nancy-boy name like 'Brett'," he said with just the faintest hint of a smile. He gave Rogue's shoulder a quick squeeze and just before he disappeared upstairs to his room he turned around and said, "Thanks for the fight, kid. It helped."

"Good night, Logan." Rogue wandered into the lounge, fully expecting Bobby to be there. She thought she would get all her confrontations over with at once.

Sure enough, Bobby was waiting for her in the lounge. "Hey Rogue, where've you been? I've been waiting for you for hours!"

"Oh, sorry, Bobby. The professor wanted to talk to me and Logan after the meeting, and then we went into town for some dinner. We're just now getting back."

"Just now? It's 12:30 in the morning! What were you guys doing all that time?" Bobby demanded, his voice strident.

Rogue turned sharply on him. "Look, Bobby, It's late, I'm tired, and I don't have to answer to you! I told you earlier I wanted some time to myself. I'm having trouble with John in my head, and being around you is not helping. You and John were best friends, and your being around me while he's in my head is confusing the hell out of me! Please, just… give me some space!"

"Well, Rogue, I'm a little confused myself. You say you need some time to yourself, but then you take off with another guy for seven hours and don't come back until after midnight! What's going on?" Bobby was determined to find out where he stood, and even if this wasn't the best time for it, he had started it and he was determined to finish it tonight. He folded his arms and didn't back down.

Rogue sighed. She really was very tired. "What's going on is that I wanted to spend some time with my best friend, who also happens to be going through a rough time," she said gently.

Her gentleness only seemed to exacerbate Bobby's aggression. "What about me?" he asked angrily. An interesting side note about Bobby Drake was that when he became angry, his eyebrows frosted over. "You saw what happened with my family. Didn't it ever occur to you that I'm going through a rough time too? That _I_ might want to spend some time with _my_ girlfriend to talk about it? But no, she's off with some disreputable cage fighter for seven hours because, oh dear, he's in love with someone else's dead wife!"

As he said the words, Bobby realized he'd gone too far. Rogue went pale with anger. She shoved him back against the wall and grabbed him by the collar just as she had seen Logan do to Brett just a little while ago. She brought his face down to hers.

"Don't you ever say anything like that again, Iceman," she hissed. "Or I will kick your ass till your brain hurts!" She glared at him for another second and then stepped back.

Bobby stayed still, but put out a placating hand. "Rogue, look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean –"

"Just get out." Rogue said, turning her back on him.

Tight-lipped and frosty-browed, Bobby wheeled and left the room.

A voice from the doorway opposite the one Bobby had used startled Rogue. "And that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the reasons why Iceman isn't yet an X-man." The dull light glinted off the ruby quartz lens of Scott's visor as he came into the room. "I heard that you'd asked the professor about him. He needs to grow up, for one thing."

Rogue nodded, suddenly feeling very old. Perhaps it was the influences of her other personalities, but at that moment she could not even begin to figure out what she had seen in Bobby. She cleared her throat. "Have a seat, Cyc," she offered. "Sorry you had to hear that. Bobby's just too young to understand some things." Scott nodded once, and eased himself down next to her. "I never got a chance to offer you my condolences for Jean," she continued softly. "I am so sorry for your loss. I loved her too," she said.

Scott said nothing, but took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"And here's where I say, 'if there's anything I can do, just let me know,' but you already know that," Rogue went on after a moment. "Like baking you cookies or something is going to make you feel better for losing your fiancée. Isn't that ridiculous?"

"Actually, there is something you can do," Scott said quietly. She met his visor-clad gaze questioningly. "Try to make Logan stay, if you can. We need him on the team."

Rogue looked away. "Scott, I don't know if I can do that. I don't know if I _should_ do that. I suspect Logan is going to need to get away for a while before he's going to be much good to the team or anyone else. It's the animal aspect of his mutation – I think he's gonna have to crawl away and lick his wounds and heal, before he's ready to fight again."

"Good point," Scott said. "I should've thought of that. Hell, I wouldn't mind doing that too."

"Does it bother you?" Rogue said after a minute. Scott's eyebrows lowered and she went on, "I mean, that Logan loved her too. I know that's one reason you two never got along."

"It did," Scott said heavily. "Now it doesn't. Now she's gone, and I can't really blame him much for his feelings." He smiled grimly. "Now I think about it, I don't know why everyone in the whole place wasn't in love with Jean."

Trying to lighten the mood, Rogue squeezed his fingers. "Well for my part, it's 'cause I'm straight," she joked.

Scott gave a huff of a laugh and stood up. "Don't worry, Rogue," he said. "Your turn is coming, and the guy who ends up with you is going to be a very lucky man."

"And at this point it doesn't look like it's going to be Bobby," she muttered.

Scott shrugged and smiled. "If he begrudges you your friendships or your grieving time –" and here Scott looked pointedly at his watch, then grinned at her and added, "—even if it takes till after midnight – he's not good enough for you. It's as simple as that," Scott said. "I gotta go – catch you later." And he was gone.


	5. Three's Company

Rogue smiled to herself, relieved that Scott wasn't going to lecture her about staying out so late. Yawning, she went upstairs to bed.

She had trouble getting to sleep, however. While other people were around, she had other things to concentrate on, but when she was alone the other personalities threatened to take over her mind.

What most people didn't understand was that when she used her powers and touched someone, a considerable amount of that person entered her psyche. So far, she still had memories taken from David, her first boyfriend, along with most of the experiences that had made Magnus Erik Lensherr into Magneto. Not to mention she had more Logan in there than anyone else, because he had touched her twice.

And now she had St. John Allerdyce. Pyro.

Pyro was trying to take over.

St. John had always liked being in charge, and he was a bit of a bully. He didn't mind using his powers to push others around and get his way. Now he wanted control of Rogue's mind and, being the most recent inhabitant, he was also the most powerful. He was stirring up the others to cause trouble too, and Rogue was afraid of shocking the others with outbursts that simply and literally, were not hers.

She remembered what it had been like a year ago, after the incident on Liberty Island. It had taken her a few months to get both Magneto's and Wolverine's influences under control. They hadn't liked each other, and had made her mind a battleground for a long time. She had said and done some deeply shocking and inappropriate things, and had come close to losing her mind back then. Only with Jean's help had she been able to regain some kind of control.

Jean wasn't here to help her now.

And Rogue had a headache from slamming into frat boy Skip's nose.

Rogue finally heaved a big sigh and got up. She went downstairs to the kitchen to get a snack, and then wandered into the lounge. For once, Jones wasn't there watching television. Idly she wondered if his codename would be "Flix" when he grew up. Rummaging in the desk, she brought out a deck of cards and began dealing out a game of solitaire.

An hour passed with Rogue concentrating very hard on the cards in order to drown out the voices in her head. After a while she became aware of a quiet presence behind her, and without looking up she said, "Hello, Logan," at the exact same time he spoke.

"Your black five can go on the six of diamonds."

"Anyone ever tell you it's rude to kibitz?"

He grunted and slumped down into the easy chair opposite her. He took a deep breath and frowned at her. "You smell hurt," he observed.

"It's nothing. Just a little bruise from the frat boy's nose," Rogue said. At Logan's puzzled look, she clarified. "From when I head-butted him, back in the bar."

"You head-butted him?"

"Well, he grabbed me. So I head-butted him and then kneed him in the groin. Broke his nose. Then when he took a swing at me – it was such a ridiculous swing, Logan, you should have seen it! – I had time to duck and get behind him and kick him over."

"Damn!" Logan said admiringly. "Wish I could've seen that. I just thought you'd used your skin."

Rogue scoffed. "Like I'd even need to? That punch was telegraphed so far in advance I had time to duck AND get behind him. You probably would've had time to pick his pocket and buy a beer before it landed!"

Logan was startled into a chuckle. He leaned back, still grinning broadly, and reached for a cigar. "We're gonna have some fun with your trainin', kid," he promised. He reached toward her forehead. "Want me to..?"

"No!" Rogue cried. "I'll be fine! It's just a little headache, that's all. And believe me, it's good to have something to distract me from 'Rogue War II' in my head! I can always sleep next week."

Logan's frown returned. "What's wrong, kid?"

"Kinda noisy up here for sleep," Rogue admitted, tapping her temple. "I swear, every single guy in my head could wear a sign that says, 'Does not play well with others.' Pyro's having a tough time settling in."

"When did you touch Pyro?" Logan was curious. He didn't remember that.

"At the Drake's house, when he fired the cop cars. I grabbed his leg and drained off enough of his power so I could draw the flames back out of the cars. Don't you remember? Oh, no, you were too busy getting _shot in the head._" Rogue remembered suddenly. "For God's sake, Logan, don't ever do that to me again!" Rogue turned pale, recalling the sheer, stark terror of that moment, seeing him fall with a bullet in his head. Her hands fumbled the cards.

Logan snorted. "Yeah, well, while we're on the topic, if you ever want to kill me with a heart attack, you just go ahead and fall out of another plane!"

Rogue deadpanned, "Oh, would this be a bad time to tell you about my new skydiving hobby?"

The Wolverine growled. "Don't make me kill you, kid," he said.

Rogue chuckled and went on playing in silence for a while. She finished one game, then looked up at Logan sprawled bonelessly in the chair, smoking. "Sorry I'm not very good company tonight," she said. "I'm not good with people right after a new absorption." Her eyes were caught by the tiny glow of his cigar end. She couldn't help it; she stared. She took a deep breath in and tried to look away.

Logan shrugged. "I'm not much of a people person lately either," he said laconically. He blinked when Rogue chuckled. "What?"

"_Lately?" _was all she said.

Logan gave a brief snort of laughter, and then noticed her fascination with his cigar. Frowning, he took it out and glanced at it. He grunted. "Oh yeah. Pyro." Leaning forward he stubbed out his cigar. "Give me those," he said, pointing to the cards. "Ever play double solitaire?" He started to shuffle. They played until dawn, until Rogue finally felt ready to get some sleep. Logan decided to try it as well.


	6. Get out of the Kitchen

_Disclaimer is in part 3. It basically says that the X-Men belong to Stan Lee and Marvel Comics._

The next afternoon, when Rogue woke up, she was hungry. She showered quickly and dressed in her everyday jeans, top, and gloves. Heading down to the kitchen, she found Storm working on preparing dinner.

"Good evening…" she started to greet Storm, but the circle of tiny blue flames under the stockpot caught her eye. Her inner Pyro was instantly captivated. Rogue's breath started to get short, and she couldn't stop herself from waving one hand towards the gas stove.

The flames grew higher. Rogue smiled; the flames reflected in her dark brown eyes. Storm looked over, puzzled. Rogue spread her fingers and the flames leaped even higher, almost even with the top of the stock pot. She started to laugh. In a sharp voice, slightly deeper than her natural one and with no trace of a southern accent, she said, "What'cha gonna do, Ms. Monroe? Gonna yell at me again?" She laughed, a harsh, mirthless sound.

Ororo took a deep breath. "Rogue!" she cried. "Rogue!"

Rogue did not respond, just watched the leaping blue flames. The heat of them drove Ororo back from the stove, but Rogue stepped closer with her hand still stretched out to feel the lick of the flames on her fingers.

"Rogue!" Ororo cried. Then, as realization struck, "John! John, stop it – you're burning the sauce!"

Rogue lowered her hand and stepped back a little. "Sorry, Ororo."

Ororo quickly checked the sauce. "Doesn't look as if it's burned too badly. Look at what you did to the range hood, though!" It was blackened and had started to melt.

Rogue started to shake. "I – I'm sorry. I lost control there for a minute. Won't happen again."

Ororo came over and put her arm carefully around Rogue's shoulders. "Rogue, honey, I think you should go see the new doctor," she said gently.

Dr. McCoy was huge, blue, and furry. He was also quite well read and had a very tranquil manner. He listened carefully to Rogue's story of her mutation and its results as he conducted a gentle but thorough examination. Upon its conclusion, he bade her get up and dress again, while he consulted with the professor.

He came back in after a few minutes. "Rogue, first of all let me say that you're an extremely brave young woman. It doesn't surprise me at all that you've been asked to join the team. Second, regarding your mental passengers, let's call them, I'm recommending a course of solo meditation along with several sessions with a telepath. I've arranged with Ororo to start you off with the meditation, and Professor Xavier says he is more than willing to help you with his telepathy. Do you have any questions?"

"Uh, yes. What is all this going to do, Doctor McCoy?"

The doctor slapped his forehead. "Oh, dear. Of course. Please forgive me, my dear – in my eagerness to prove my competence at my new job, I've left out the prognosis! And please, call me Hank. Or Beast."

Rogue nodded, still waiting.

"The meditation is to help you centre on yourself, to sift out your own original personality from those others you carry. You will need that enlightenment for the next step, which will require the telepath. Professor Xavier will help you build a mental holding facility, if you will, in which you can keep all the separate personalities until they start to fade away."

At Rogue's sceptical expression, he hastened to ask, "They _do_ fade away after a time, don't they? You don't still maintain Magneto's or Wolverine's gifts, right?"

Rogue nodded. "The gifts fade, Hank, but the memories and personalities are always with me. They get less influential as I get used to them, but they never leave. I can still have mental conversations with the boy I happened to be kissing when my mutation manifested. He's fine now, I'm sure, but I'll have part of him in my head until I die. I just don't know how I can use my gift as an X-man, and still keep the numbers down up there!"

Hank had large, sympathetic brown eyes. "Well, perhaps the professor can help you find an answer to that question too, Rogue. Now, if you'll excuse me, Ororo told me that she could see you right after dinner. And she respectfully requests you stay out of the kitchen until then," he finished with a twinkle.

"If ya cain't take the heat…" Rogue muttered, not bothering to finish the cliché. Hank laughed.

Rogue decided to go down to the pond and try some meditation. She knew she would need some practice with Ororo, but she knew the basics of how it worked.

Logan found her there, sitting on the bench beside the pond. Slinging his backpack to the ground, he sat on the bench next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "I'm runnin' again," he said simply.

Her dark-chocolate eyes slid up to his. She nodded. "I thought you would." They sat in companionable silence for a minute. "Will you be back?" Rogue asked.

Logan sighed and hung his head. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll be back. Probably even join the team and everything. Gotta make sure these geeks take good care of you, don't I?" There was no hint of humour in his tone; he just sounded tired.

"How long?"

"Dunno. Few weeks, anyway. You'll be okay?" he asked, lifting a finger and stroking it down her white lock of hair.

She nodded, looking down. "I'll be okay," she said. Looking back up with a little smile, she said "I miss you when you're gone, you know. Take care of yourself, Logan."

Logan nodded once. "I will, kid." He stood up, patted himself down absently. "Tag's gone," he reminded himself. He met Rogue's eyes. "Left it in the lake. My word that I'll be back gonna be good enough?" The corner of his mouth gave the barest twitch.

Rogue smiled and nodded. "Come back as soon as you can, okay?" She stood up and gave him a quick hug, careful not to touch him with her skin.

He hugged her back, hard, then stepped back and picked up his bag. "Take care, kid," he said.

"Logan?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think you could stop calling me that?"

There was an uneasy moment while he frowned at her, then a small smile crept across his face. "Sure thing, darlin'," he said, and with a quick wink, he was gone.

_Aw, come on -- you **know** you want to review!_


	7. Eliminating Baggage

Rogue smiled to herself, shaking her head, and sat back down to watch the water. She was still very shaken by the events in recent days, and was just as glad that Logan was going to be gone for a while. He was very intense, with rapid mood swings, and she was going to need the time without him to wrap her mind around its newest inhabitant.

Instead of getting more focussed, Rogue's mind began spinning in circles. She wondered idly if she should break up with Bobby, or just wait for him to do it. The age difference between them had been showing up more and more lately. Chronologically, there was less than a year between them, but with Rogue's having more than a century's worth of memories in her mind, she felt very old some days.

She had very little patience for kids her own age. She realized that she hadn't really been a teenager since the night Magneto touched her. Rogue realized that the adult thing to do would be to break it off with Bobby herself. Admitting that the meditation thing just wasn't working for her right then, she got up and went to find him.

She found him in the rec. room playing foosball with Kitty. Rogue smiled to herself, knowing that Kitty had liked Bobby for quite a while. "Bobby, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure, just a sec. I just have to – there!" Bobby grunted as he sank the ball and grinned at Kitty. "Want to play best two out of three?"

"Sure, okay," Kitty said.

"I'll just be a minute," Bobby promised the brown-haired girl. He turned to Rogue. "OK, what's up? Are you ready for an apology yet?" He tried his most conciliatory tone of voice.

"Let's go over here," Rogue said, motioning toward the couch. They sat down and shared an awkward silence for a moment.

"Listen, Rogue," Bobby began, at the same time Rogue started to speak.

"This isn't –" she said. They smiled.

Bobby started again. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry for flipping out on you last night. I was just worried about you, and I missed talking to you, that's all."

"Worried about me? Why?"

"Well, you were gone for seven hours! Anything could have happened to you!"

Rogue raised her eyebrows. "But you knew I was with Logan, right? What could have happened?"

Bobby squirmed. "Well, you have to admit, the guy's a little unpredictable," he said. "I'm not sure you should be spending so much time with him, actually. What if he gets the wrong idea?"

Rogue sighed. It looked as if now was the time to cut him loose. "Bobby, Logan is fairly predictable to me. He's been in my head for a year, remember? And if he ever did get the 'wrong idea' about me, whatever that is, he and I are friends. We talk about stuff." Rogue sighed. "Bobby, I don't think this is going to work out between you and me. You deserve to be with someone who can touch, someone who doesn't have a constant stag party going on in her mind. I deserve better than to be told what to do and who to be friends with and how to spend my time."

"So this is it, then?" Bobby said. "You're dumping me?"

Rogue considered, and said, "Yeah, I am. Gently, I hope – but we can't be together like you want. I'm sorry."

"Hey, that's okay," Bobby said icily. "If you'd rather break up than work things out, fine. I'll see you around, then," and he went back to where Kitty was waiting for him at the foosball table. Rogue saw them talking quietly while getting ready for the next game, and smiled to herself. She'd bet it wouldn't even be a week before Kitty caught the rebound!

Dinner was quiet; Professor Xavier joined them in the dining room as he sometimes did, and Rogue sat with him to talk. She explained that she was not comfortable starting formal training to join the team until she got her head in order, but that she hoped to be able to join in a few weeks.

"I understand completely, Rogue, and I appreciate your honesty. Many students would have joined up, unprepared, and been a liability later on. I value your ability to know your limitations, and I look forward to working with you on your mental training." The professor was ever gracious and voluble.

"Thanks, Professor." Rogue speared up a piece of broccoli and ate it. "Uh, did Logan talk to you before he left?"

"Yes, and I will be in touch with him some of the time he's gone via Cerebro," Xavier answered. "He will likely be gone some weeks, but I see no reason to postpone your training until his return. You can start combat training with Scott, who will give you a good basis, and then continue with Logan when he returns. Meanwhile, perhaps you would like to begin 'unofficial' team training while we work on assimilating your personalities as well? It would be a shame to lose all that time." Xavier had a twinkle in his eye. He knew that Logan was afraid of being rushed, but he also knew that Rogue would need some tactile, concrete lessons to balance out all the mental work that needed to be done.

Rogue smiled and agreed. After dinner was her first meeting with Ororo, and it went well. With hard work and intense concentration, Rogue was able to achieve a few moments of peace. It felt good!


	8. Looking Within

_It all belongs to Marvel Comics and Stan Lee._

During the next few days, Rogue spent much of her time either with Ororo, or sitting alone beside the pond. The peaceful setting there helped her to concentrate on figuring out how much of her was other people, and how much was the original Marie.

Rogue's meditations usually took the form of mental conversations with her "inmates." While to any average observer, Rogue was simply sitting beside the pond lost in thought, any telepathic observer would have been able to see and hear what was really going on.

Rogue would keep her eyes closed to start, and then, once she was in contact with her mental personalities, she would open them and use the scene of the peaceful pond to keep her centred.

Logan was usually the first one she talked to, because he was good for her ego, and for helping keep the other personalities in line. He was looking a bit singed these days, because Pyro didn't like him.

"Hey Wolvie," Rogue greeted him as she approached his room. With Jean's help last year, she had created some mental "space" for both him and Magneto, and also for David. Logan lived in her mental equivalent of his room at Xavier's mansion, while David was always to be found in her old room at her parents' house in Mississippi. Magneto was eternally imprisoned in the torch of Lady Liberty.

"Hey, kid," Wolverine said, looking up from where he was sprawled lazily on his bed, reading.

"How's the new kid?" she asked him.

"Don't you mean new kids? Plural? Did you forget about Blurry Bobby?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When that icey-pop kissed you, a little of him ended up in here too. It wasn't much, though, so he's always a bit blurry around the edges even when he does show up. You know, you really gotta be more careful, kid."

"Well, I wasn't exactly expecting him to kiss me, Wolvie! It was his idea, not mine! And besides, he said he wouldn't get hurt."

Wolverine snorted.

"What?" Rogue demanded.

"Haven't you learned by now not to believe horny teenage boys? They'll say anything to get some touch, darlin'."

Rogue rolled her eyes and decided to change the subject. "What about John? How's he doing?"

Wolverine shrugged. "He ain't so bad as long as I keep kickin' his ass every second. Otherwise he gets outta hand."

"Oh, so you must've been napping the other day when I nearly set the kitchen on fire," Rogue teased.

"Yeah, uh, sorry 'bout that, kid," Wolverine looked abashed. "I was catchin' up with Erik right then."

"Oh, so you're best pals with old 'Bucket-head' now?" Rogue teased.

Wolverine laughed and explained that he had merely been consulting with Magneto on the best way to keep Pyro from driving Rogue insane.

"Uh, yeah… about that…" Rogue said. "You ought to know I'm looking into some ways to kick them out altogether. I might not be able to keep you here, either. Are you mad?"

Wolverine considered this for a long moment and shrugged. "Nah. You should do whatever makes you healthy. And anyway, you'll probably get hurt again, and Logan'll be around, so I'll probably just end up right back here again." He winked at her.

"Oh, so you _expect_ me to get hurt again? Nice to know what kind of faith you have in me," Rogue teased. 

Wolverine lost his smile and looked at her very seriously. "Darlin', I got all kinds of faith in you. You know that. I know you won't let this new jerk push you over the edge." He smirked and continued, "If you can survive old Buckethead, you can survive another coupla teenyboppers."

Rogue grinned. "Yeah, but it wasn't Old Buckethead that had me pinching Jean's ass for a week!" She instantly sobered, remembering that Jean was no longer alive.

Wolverine knew the fact of Jean's death, of course, but with his being a sort of snapshot from a year ago, the fact didn't really register with him. He still spoke of her in the present tense. "Hey!" he defended, "It's a great ass!" He grinned lasciviously. "Not like yours, though, baby. Hey, next time you shower, you want to back up to the mirror so we can get a good look? You haven't done that in a while. We've all missed it."

Rogue rolled her eyes and bid him a pointed, "Goodbye, Wolvie!" His laugh followed her out the door.

Next stop, Magneto. Rogue flew up to the top of the torch and opened the door. "Hello, Erik," she said.

"Ah, good afternoon, my dear," he greeted cordially. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Just thought I'd ask you about the new guys."

"Well, the Wolverine told me about Iceman's presence, or I would never have known. He has certainly never come up here. Pyro, on the other hand appears to be causing quite a stir. I've had several chats with him, and I can hear him fighting with your hairy champion on an hourly basis, even from way up here."

"Yes, Wolvie says he's trying to keep him in line. Did you hear about what happened in the kitchen, though?"

Erik said he hadn't, so Rogue filled him in, about Pyro and the stockpot. He started to laugh, and she couldn't help but join in. It wasn't funny at the time, but now, picturing the expression on Storm's face, she couldn't keep the giggles from bubbling out. She couldn't help it; she liked Erik. To her, the Erik trapped in her head was far different from the powerful and politically driven madman known as Magneto. Erik was suave and polite, and had a wicked sense of humour. Not only that, but he had graciously accepted his confinement as "just," in return for her having to put up with his memories and nightmares. No, her mental Magneto never gave her any trouble, and was always good for a game of chess and some clever conversation.

"So he hasn't been up here bothering you much?" she asked. Erik shook his head. "Good," she said. "Um, listen, Erik – I'm working on something that might allow me to clean out my head – and if that's successful, then you might have to leave along with Pyro and the others. Is that all right?"

Erik looked surprised. "My dear Rogue," he said. "This is _your_ mind, after all. You have every right to decide who gets to stay here!"

Rogue smiled and thanked him. He returned her smile and invited her to a game of chess sometime. "You may not believe me, my dear," he said as she was leaving, "But I enjoy our little chats."

"So do I. Thank you, Erik."

Next stop was Mental-Meridian, Mississippi. She opened the door of her room and found David poking idly through her underwear drawer. "David!"

He looked up and shrugged, grinning. "Well, I don't have anything better to do!"

"Every time I come in here, I always catch you doing something perverted!" Rogue shook her head.

David shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a perpetually horny kid who's going to be 17 forever. AND I'm locked into the room of a beautiful teenage girl who never comes to see me anymore!"

Rogue gave in and smiled. "Come on, you know you can see me in the mirror every time I look. And I'm not exactly a teenager anymore."

"I know, I know. Why'd you have to go around touching dirty old men, anyway? Erik's not so bad, but that Wolverine's a real lech!"

Rogue lifted her eyebrows. "David, honey, I hate to tell you, but Wolvie isn't the one I found rooting around in my underwear drawer!"

Unrepentant, David shot her a grin. "That's only 'cause you locked him into his own room and not yours! Trust me, I'm right on this!"

Rogue conceded he had a point. Then she asked about Pyro. David told her that Pyro wasn't too bad – he had mostly left him alone. "That Bobby kid, though… where on earth did ya dig him up?"

Rogue looked puzzled. "What about Bobby?"

"Well, he comes in here all the time, lookin' like a ghost, and if you think I'm the pervert, you oughtta see him. Not to mention the fact he's all possessive of you. I mean, I know you and I were only together for a couple of weeks and it ended badly – but hey, this Bobby kid's nearly had a fight with me over the fact that I was your first kiss! I mean, I know my place around here. He doesn't. Marie, you gotta do something about him!"

"I think you're the only one he's visited, David. The others are mostly bothered by John." Rogue was puzzled. She hadn't even been aware of Bobby's presence in her mind at all after their kiss. She guessed his ghostlike quality was due to the fact that their kiss had been so short that she had just barely started to feel the pull before Bobby had staggered back and broken it. She sat down on the edge of her bed and told David all about the past few days. She ended by saying, "So if Bobby or John ever give you a hard time, you just go tell Wolvie and he'll take care of it if I'm busy. Okay?"

David agreed, and Rogue took her leave. She took a deep breath before going to see Pyro himself.

She hadn't yet created a mental containment facility for Pyro, and she was a little afraid of what she might find. She simply headed toward the flickering light and found him torching Xavier's mansion. Her jaw dropped. John had gone into her memories and daily impressions of Xavier's mansion and was burning them all to the ground. She ran forward. "John! John!"

Pyro turned and grinned at her before shooting a fireball at her. Rogue screamed and ducked; the fireball passed so close over her that she could feel it singe the hair on top of her head. Pyro laughed and called, "What's the matter, Rogue? Can't take the heat?"

Suddenly there was a roar, and John was tackled from the side. Rogue got shakily to her feet and looked over fearfully.

Wolverine threw Pyro across the room. Pyro smashed right into the big mirror and jumped to his feet amid the shattered glass. He sent a fireball Wolverine's way, but Wolverine dove through it unharmed. He bowled Pyro over again. Pyro got up and Wolverine popped out his claws. Pyro threw another fireball toward him, but once again Wolverine ignored it. He leaped through it and plunged his claws deep into Pyro's chest.

Pyro fell. Wolverine backed off, panting, and glanced at Rogue. "We don't have long, kid," he said. "You should get out of here."

"Why can't he hurt you with the flames?"

"I know they're imaginary. To you they still look real, so they can hurt you. You should get out of here, darlin', and let me get back to my thrashin'. He'll be up again in a sec."

Rogue aghast, asked, "Is this how it's been?"

Wolverine nodded. "Mostly. Don't worry, baby; I've got an infinite capacity for ass-kickin'!" He grinned toothily at her.

Rogue couldn't help herself. Running over to him, she planted a quick but heartfelt kiss on his lips before she ran out again.

"Huh." Wolverine was puzzled, but charmed. "What'd she do that for?"

"It should've been me," Bobby declared angrily, popping up suddenly in all his ethereal glory. "I'm the one she should be kissing!"

He got a glare, but that was all. Wolverine was busy watching Pyro for any hint of movement.

"Bobby, come on," David was there too, tugging at Bobby's semi-intangible sleeve. "Let's leave Wolvie alone, huh? He's got work to do."

"Yeah, kid, get him out of here," Wolverine said to David, without taking his eyes off Pyro. John was starting to stir again.

"Wakey, wakey," Wolverine told him gleefully. "Ready for round… uh, what is this now, round seven hundred and three?"

Pyro opened his eyes and sent another burst of flame at Wolverine.

Wolverine tsked at him as the flames billowed harmlessly past him. "And here I thought you were a smart kid. Still haven't figured out ya can't hurt me that way. You're just a young hothead, ain'tcha?"

"Rogue! Rogue!" Rogue lifted her head from Wolverine's pillow, listening. She had fled to his room for safety, but now she heard someone calling her from outside the mansion it sounded like. A smile crept across her face; she knew how to do this! Rising, she ran down the stairs and out the door. Tiptoeing down to the pond, she sat down on the bench in her usual meditation spot. She knew her body had been there the whole time, but she had only recently learned how to return to it when she wanted to.

"Rogue?" Ororo said, tapping her lightly on the shoulder.

Rogue blinked and looked up. "Oh, hi, 'Roro. I was…busy," she explained. Remembering Pyro's actions during her dream-state, she glanced anxiously toward the mansion. Good. No scorch marks. It had looked so real, but had actually taken place all in her head.

_See that little blue button at the bottom? Might be fun if you clicked on it!_


	9. Unwelcome Gifts

Storm was talking. "Honey, you've been out here all day. I came out to call you to dinner." Rogue nodded and got up. "Have you made any progress?" Ororo asked as they walked slowly back toward the mansion.

"Some. I guess. I don't know," Rogue said. She was still somewhat shaken by what had happened with her mental Pyro.

"Maybe it's time to get the professor's help," Ororo suggested. Rogue nodded.

That evening Rogue stayed in, sipping tea and trying to write. The professor had suggested she keep a journal to write her thoughts in, but she was having trouble finding words for some of her thoughts. She was concentrating on Erik at that moment, struggling to describe how he felt in her mind. She sat at her desk with the journal open in front of her, but she couldn't think what to write. She idly played with some paper clips, stirring them around with her finger. She looped two of them together, then another one, then dropped one.

She leaned down to get it, but couldn't quite reach. Then, all of a sudden, the paper clip rose to touch her fingers.

Rogue gasped. The tiny clip slipped through her suddenly nerveless fingers to the floor again.

Rogue blinked. Heart pounding, she stretched down again, and the clip leaped into her hand. She pointed a finger at the little pile of clips and waved it around as if she were still stirring them.

They swirled around just as they had a moment ago, but without her touching them.

Rogue slammed her hand down flat, stilling their motion. She picked one up without touching it, and straightened it out. She gritted her teeth and stabbed her hand with it, hard.

Blood oozed out, and it hurt. Rogue grinned, then closed her eyes.

Instead of thinking of Magneto, she concentrated hard on Logan. She remembered the way he smelled, of leather and cigars and motor oil, and thought of how he healed so quickly. Then she opened her eyes and stabbed her hand again.

It healed. She blinked, and did it again.

It healed.

Rogue absently scratched at her knuckles with her other hand and closed her eyes. Remembering Bobby, and their icy-cold kiss at his parents' house, she focussed on how it had felt, how chilly but warm at the same time.

Opening her eyes, she reached out and touched her tea mug.

It didn't freeze.

It didn't freeze, but the steam disappeared. When Rogue touched her lips to the edge, the tea was refrigerator-cold but still liquid.

Didn't kiss him for long enough to get the whole gift, Rogue realized.

For just a moment, she started to think about Pyro, to heat her tea back up, but then she realized exactly what had just happened in the last few minutes, and jumped to her feet. Slamming her door behind her, she raced down the hallway toward Xavier's office. Turning a corner, she ran headlong into Jubilee and Kitty.

"Whoa, where's the fire, girlfriend?" Jubilee stepped back sharply to avoid skin contact.

"Don't SAY that!" Rogue said in a strangled-sounding voice, and kept on running. She could feel herself only just keeping Pyro under control.

"That is one weird mutie-chick, I'll tell ya," Jubilee said to her companion. Kitty nodded.

"Professor!" Rogue shouted desperately as she ran up outside his door. She knocked hard twice, then threw the door open and ran in.

Xavier was showing Hank something on his computer, and they both looked up, startled, when Rogue barged in.

"Sorry to interrupt, Professor, but I need your help! Now!"

"Certainly, Rogue. Hank, we can finish this later, all right?"

"Of course, Charles. Rogue," Hank nodded politely at her as he headed toward the door.

"No, no, Hank, please stay. My problem might be medical too," Rogue said frantically.

Hank agreed, and sat down.

"Now, Rogue, tell me what this is all about," Xavier invited.

"It's actually gonna be easier to show than tell," Rogue said. "If I concentrate hard on one of the guys in my head, I seem to gain access to his powers too. Give me a minute to think about Magneto."

"Uh, all right. If you're sure," Xavier said, cringing a little at the thought. Shortly after the Statue of Liberty incident, it had been extremely disturbing for him to hear Erik's words and vocal mannerisms out of Rogue's mouth. She'd even called him 'Charles' for the longest time.

Rogue opened her eyes and looked pointedly at Xavier's pen. It lifted into the air and spun around, then dropped rapidly point-down toward the desk again. It stopped as soon as the point touched, and hovered in the air for a moment before it started writing.

Xavier shuddered. His desk calendar now had "Hello, Charles," written on it in Erik's handwriting.

_More, more! I'm still not satisfied. Bottom right, "Go" button, you know what to do._


	10. Let Me Give You a Tour

There was a long and pregnant pause, as all three of them stared at the words the pen had just written.

"Ah, I, uh, think I see your problem," Xavier offered, snatching his pen out of the air.

"Fascinating!" Hank interjected. "And is it the same for your other, uh, tenants?"

Rogue grimaced at him. "Wolverine, yes; Bobby, some. It's Pyro that I'm worried about." She looked at Xavier. "I can't control him. I have no place to put him. Wolverine is fighting with him pretty much all the time, just to keep him from torching my whole brain. I think I can probably access his powers too, but I'm afraid to because I'd have no control over him."

"What do you mean, 'no place to put him?'" Hank asked. "Do you mean you… have places to put the others?"

Rogue explained that Jean had helped her build mental containment areas for her three "squatters" a year ago, and while they weren't perfect, they did seem to work okay. But she didn't know how to build one herself and now Pyro wanted to take over the whole place.

"Rogue, I will need some time to think about this, to decide how best to proceed. Meanwhile, if you'll allow me to help you, I'm sure I can come up with a makeshift containment facility for John. Will you let me help you there?"

Rogue nodded eagerly. "Uh-huh. Please."

"Very well, then." Xavier touched his temples and closed his eyes, and a moment later Rogue felt his presence inside her mind.

Rogue focussed hard and a moment later had entered a light trance, enough to show Xavier around her head. She brought him to her room in Meridian first, and introduced him to David.

"Professor, this is David Cody, the first boy I ever kissed. In fact, that's what I was doing when my mutation surfaced. I don't know which of us it freaked out more."

"Oh, that would be you," David teased. "Me, I was all snug and asleep in my comfy little coma. You were the one who freaked out and ran away from home."

Xavier smiled at the boy, and glanced around the room. The maps on the wall caught his eye and he looked curiously at Rogue. "This is your room, then, Rogue? Where you grew up?"

"Yep," she said. "I didn't knew what his room looked like, so I had to put him in mine."

"I see." There seemed little that Xavier needed to do there, so they moved on.

Next, they visited Magneto, sitting snugly in his torch atop the Statue of Liberty. "Ah, Charles! How lovely of you to visit."

"Hello, Erik," Xavier said a little sadly.

"So what brings you to this little segment of brain? You must have gotten my message on your desk," Erik smiled graciously.

"I did. Rogue tells me you've been a bit more outgoing than usual, Erik. Care to comment on that?"

Erik raised his eyebrows. "Well, she couldn't reach the paper clip herself," he said innocently. "I was merely helping her out."

"Why?"

"Call it an instinct for self-preservation." Erik turned his attention to Rogue. "After you left, my dear, I found myself thinking about what you had said. About turning all of us out, I mean. While I stand by my previous statement that it is your right to decide who gets to share your brain-space, I had difficulty accepting the fact that I might have to leave. I thought I might help you out a little, and show you how useful I might be, and you might decide to keep me."

"'Old age should burn and rave at close of day,'" quoted Xavier.

"'Rage, rage, against the dying of the light.'" Erik finished the quote. "Exactly. I am not ready to die, even so small a part of me as a mental shadow in another mutant's head. I wished to stay."

"We'll have to talk later," promised Rogue. "But we have to get going. Charles wants to see the rest of you as well."

They took their leave, and as they floated down from the Statue toward Xavier's mansion, Rogue felt Bobby Drake join them. "Bobby?"

Bobby looked sorrowful. "They say you're trying to kick all of us out," he said sadly. Rogue squinted at him. Wolverine was right; he _was_ fairly blurry around the edges. They could almost see right through him.

"Bobby, I don't know yet. The professor's just having a look around right now. Have you had any trouble with John?"

Iceman shook his ghostly head. "No, he picks on me a little, but mostly he's busy fighting your precious Wolvie."

"Ah yes, I think I hear them now," Xavier murmured as they neared his mansion. It was a smoking ruin, and Pyro was getting thrashed out on the front lawn. Xavier and Rogue stood and watched the last few minutes until Wolverine knocked him out and bent over panting.

"Hey, kid. Hi, Charles," Wolverine greeted them. "You guys can't stay long. He's gonna be up again in a sec."

"Yes, but he'll be contained by then," Xavier said. He stood up out of his wheelchair and took a few steps forward.

Damn, it's good to be a telepath, Rogue thought. She realized that Xavier wasn't at all handicapped in his mind.

Xavier smiled at Pyro's supine form and suddenly several giant rocks rose out of the earth to surround Pyro. Slowly, they changed shape until they were square and piled on top of one another like an ancient Roman building. They were immense, and they formed a massive bastion all around Pyro.

"That should keep him under wraps for a while," Xavier said, dusting off his hands theatrically.

"Chuck!" Wolverine said admiringly. "You're pretty good!"

Xavier chuckled. "Thank you, Logan."

Wolverine shook his head. "Nuh-uh," he said. "In here, I'm just Wolverine. Logan's the one out there," he gestured toward the gate.

"Interesting," Xavier commented.

"Hey, kid, now what am I going to do with my time?" Wolverine complained, kicking absently at the corner of Pyro's stone box. "I've gotten kinda used to fighting all the time."

Rogue grinned. "Well, you could either start rebuilding the mansion, or you could learn to play chess with Erik."

"No way, doll. Now that the flamer's restricted, the mansion'll probably start rebuilding itself. Maybe I'll go hang out in your room with David."

Rogue grinned at him. "Just stay the hell out of my underwear drawer, Wolvie!"

_Go ahead, bottom left. Blue button. You know you want to!_


	11. Mild Epiphanies

It took Logan three days to arrive at his cabin in Alberta. He took his time, not driving straight through as he usually did. By the time he arrived, he still hadn't done any formal "grieving" about Jean's death; in fact, he hadn't thought about her nearly as much as he had expected to.

Instead, he found himself thinking about Rogue, and about Stryker's assistant, Yuriko. He knew that Yuriko had been under the same control that had forced Nightcrawler to attack the President, and that she hadn't been in control of her actions when she attacked him at Alkali Lake. The fact that she had the same healing mutation as he did didn't change the twinge of guilt he felt over pumping her full of adamantium and dumping her into the lab tank.

He had a terrible thought: what if he hadn't killed her? What if she was still lying there, full of adamantium, fully conscious at the bottom of the lake? He shivered at the thought.

It was a little chilly in his cabin. Cold didn't usually bother the Wolverine, but he was in the mood for a fire.

Sitting in a chair staring into the flames, he was reminded of Rogue's preoccupation with his cigar. His brow furrowed. Not for the first time, he wondered whether he should have left when she was having troubles with Pyro in her head. He wondered whether she had started her X-man training yet; they hadn't discussed what their decisions would be. He was concerned for her safety and sanity, but then reminded himself that he had left her in the keeping of one of the most powerful telepaths in the world, and one of the best men he'd ever known. Xavier would let him know if anything happened to Rogue.

Logan had come up here in order to have some privacy for his grief over Jean's death, but after the first couple of days he had an epiphany. He simply wasn't that heartbroken about it. Sure, he had had feelings for Jean, and had been jealous of her relationship with Scott, but he wasn't crushed like he thought he was.

Rocked by this realization, he abruptly decided to make this stay a short one. Instead of the six or eight weeks he'd been planning to stay, he'd leave after two or three. He had been uneasy about leaving Rogue ever since he drove out the gates of Xavier's mansion. He knew she was among friends, and that Xavier would take good care of her, but he still felt unsettled.

On his fourth day at the cabin, however, right in the middle of his meal preparation, he suddenly dropped his knife and grumbled, "What the blazes am I even doing here?"

With a sigh, he picked up his knife again and finished cleaning the rabbit. Might as well leave on a full stomach. It would be a long way back.

The Wolverine was never one for extended introspection, but he did wonder why he had spent all that time thinking he was in love with Jean when he really wasn't. He liked her, was attracted to her (she really did have a great ass), and considered her a terrific person and a good friend – but his world wasn't falling apart like Scott's was. He would definitely miss her, but his heart remained intact. Xavier was right; she had made her choice.

And now Logan was going to make his. He could either stay up here in Canada, taking up his old life and feeling sorry for himself, or he could go back to a place where he was needed and accepted, if not well-liked. He knew that Rogue loved him, and would definitely need him when she started her training. And he had to admit he needed her too. Usually people were either afraid of him or trying to kill him. He honestly couldn't remember the last time someone had greeted him with a smile and a friendly hug. He shouldn't care. He shouldn't. But he did.

Next morning before dawn, the sound of a departing motorcycle rang out over the Alberta hills.

_Well, what do you think so far? I have more written, but it needs polishing... and it still needs an ending. I'm leaning towards W/R, but perhaps it's best to just keep them friends. What do youguys think? Click that little blue button down there on the left and let me know!_


	12. The Prodigal Returns

In less than two days Logan had reached Niagara Falls and was taking a short break when Xavier contacted him. _Logan?_ The voice said in his head.

"What do you want, Charles?" he asked gruffly.

_Logan, you don't have to speak aloud. Just think your answer._

Logan shook his head. He'd never get used to these "telepath calls." **Fine, Charles, I'm thinking my answer. What do you need?**

_I wanted to ask if you'd be willing to accept an assignment when you return. Rogue is going to be doing a little travelling, and has requested your presence as a sort of bodyguard if you're agreeable_, Xavier said.

**What? Where the devil is she going?**

_She is having some trouble adjusting to St. John's presence in her mind, and is planning to seek him out._ Xavier bit back his mental chuckle at Wolverine's psychic stream of profanity. He'd expected such a reaction. 

**Is she insane? No, you must be the crazy one, for letting her. Doesn't she know Pyro's joined up with Magneto?**

_She is legally an adult, Logan. And as both Pyro and Magneto are both inmates in her psychological prison, I would say she probably has a better idea of what he is thinking than most people. In any case, Logan, will you go with her? Or shall I send Scott?_

Logan growled again, recognizing that Xavier was straightforwardly manipulating him. **I'll go, Chuck. Tell her I'm on my way.**

_Oh, there's no rush, Logan. Rogue specifically said that she would be happy to wait until you were completely finished with whatever business sent you up north._

Xavier didn't think he had ever had anyone actually grunt at him before during a telepathic conversation. **I'm finished up here. Tell her it didn't take as long as I thought it would. Now get out of my head and let me get goin'.**

_Very well. We'll see you in a few days, then._ And Xavier's presence left Wolverine's head. 

Logan grinned, realizing that Xavier didn't know where he was. A few days? Try three or four hours! He'd be able to surprise his girl by getting home early.

Wait a minute. There were a couple different things wrong with that last thought. Technically, his home was the tiny cabin he had just left. He'd never really felt "at home" at Xavier's, so why was he beginning to think of it as home? And the second thing: since when was Rogue "his" girl? She was still Bobby's girl, even if Wolverine didn't think much of the little ice cube. She was Logan's friend, sure, but that didn't convey ownership of any sort. She'd even given back his tag.

He scowled as he kicked his bike to life and started out again.

Rogue spoke with Xavier right after he finished talking to Logan. It was weird, Logan's saying that it didn't take him as long as he thought it would. They both knew he had gone up there to mourn Jean in privacy – why would he be coming back so soon? She shrugged, and guessed she'd ask him in a few days, when he returned.

Her mind felt a little strange now that Xavier had given her that giant mental "block" to hold in Pyro. She was a little relieved, but not totally secure. She felt sure that he wouldn't be contained for long. She had a few mental conversations with Erik and Wolverine, telling them to be on their guard for when Pyro was able to escape his psychological stone prison.

Her meditation sessions were not having the effect that Ororo and Xavier had wanted, though. Instead of spending time trying to discover what parts of her psyche were the original Marie from Mississippi and which parts were others, she found herself spending more and more time with her "inmates" as Xavier called them. For herself, she preferred Beast's term, "tenants." She had experimented quite a bit more with using their mutant gifts, until David complained that she never spent any time with him anymore because he wasn't a mutant.

She tried not to think about Pyro at all, because the more she thought about him, the more she strengthened his presence in her mind. She didn't want a strong Pyro. Not only would he freak out anyone who was cooking, but a strong Pyro might also be able to escape from his holding cell.

The more she tried to separate herself from her "tenants," the more she realized how much she'd miss them if they were gone. She kind of liked who she had become, with their help. Without them and their memories, she felt as if a large part of herself would be missing – she'd be no better, or older, than the frightened little teenager who had stowed away in Wolverine's trailer. Although she had friends her own age there at Xavier's, she rather enjoyed the feeling of being too old for them. It was rather fun to be able to call Xavier by his first name when she was in a Magneto mood, for example, or to give Jubilee a Loganesque growl when the chatterbox was being especially irritating.

And now they wanted to make her an X-man! Her, Rogue. Not Bobby or Jubilee or Kitty. Just her. They recognized that there was more to her than met the eye. She admitted to herself that she'd probably do it if she could ever get her head on straight, whether Wolverine became an X-man or not. Of course, it would be very cool if he did!

Rogue had started her training to join the team. So far it had only been some lessons on field medicine with Hank and some half-hearted combat training with Scott. Ororo planned to take her into the flight simulator tomorrow, though, along with Kurt. That should be fun. She liked Kurt.

Logan arrived at Xavier's in the mid-afternoon, but the gates were closed. He swore, and wheeled the bike up to the intercom. He guessed Xavier wasn't taking any chances regarding security after the Stryker attack. Pressing a button, he said "Hello?" A flat electronic voice asked him for his identification. "Uh, Logan. Wolverine."

"Logan, codename: Wolverine. Password, please?"

Logan was getting impatient. He just wanted to get off this bike and flex his wrists a little. Four thousand kilometres of open throttle was enough to leave even a guy with a healing factor a little stiff. He couldn't think of what password Xavier would have assigned him. "Uh, open up."

"Password incorrect. Password, please?"

"Stryker? Alkali Lake?"

"Password incorrect. Password, please?"

Logan was getting annoyed. He aimed an irritated growl at the intercom, thinking that if the third one was wrong, he would simply claw out the circuits and get in _his_ way.

To his shock, the voice replied, "Wolverine. Password confirmed. Welcome, Logan," and the gates swung open. He gave a snort of disbelief, and put the bike into first. Who on earth had programmed his growl to be his password? Whoever came up with that idea knew him a little better than he was comfortable with.

_Author's note: All right, folks, message received. It'll be W/R... but I should warn you that I don't do NC-17 scenes at all, and they're likely to continue as much in character as I can make them._

_Please, though, do keep reviewing! More reviews make me upload faster; keep that in mind. I still don't have an ending, though, so please accept my apologies in advance if I finish uploading the completed chapters and then have a bit of a delay while I try to bang out a satisfactory ending. Y'all won't lose faith in me, now, will you? I will finish this, I promise! And if anyone wishes to give me any ideas on an ending in their review, I'll take them into consideration. I have it roughly outlined in my head, but it's fairly rough. Feel free to offer suggestions when you click that magic little blue button below._


	13. The French Surrender

_Thank you, everyone for your kind reviews. Ashnan, you're so good! Thanks for the encouragement. Patch and Li'lRogue, nice of you to join me for this little romp. I've been having fun reading your stuff, too. Ears, when are you going to login and review so I can read some of your fic too? You shoulda known I couldn't resist an offer of Wolverine with a cherry. ;) Ripper, thanks for the kind words... and everyone else, I'll get to you in the next chapter. Yes, it's all written! --CL_

Ever since her chat with Xavier about his mental conversation with Logan, Rogue had been sitting on the bench beside the pond, meditating as usual. Gradually she became aware of another presence. It took her a few moments to come out of her meditative state, but the smell of cigarette smoke helped. Rogue had been hyper-aware of smoke since Pyro. There was also a hint of southern in the man's speech. Combined with the hint of French, it was enough to prick her awareness.

"So I been askin' who is de lovely _chere_ who is always alone by de pond?" he asked.

Rogue didn't answer – she wasn't quite out of her trance yet. Then she felt his hand on her shoulder, and jerked away. Wide-awake now, and completely present, she stood up and barked, "Who the hell are you?"

He seemed unaffected by her unwelcoming response. "De name is Remy LeBeau, _ma chere_. Also called Gambit. I 'ave been 'ere for several days, but I've not met you yet." He stepped forward and held out his hand for her to shake.

Rogue, a little impatient with having been interrupted in her meditations, stepped back quickly. "Rogue," she introduced herself. "Here are the rules of our new acquaintance: one, you don't touch me. Ever. Two, you don't interrupt me when I'm sitting here. Three, you don't smoke near me. Got it?"

Gambit was more than a bit taken aback. He was tall and slim, with long auburn hair. He wore a long trenchcoat, and gloves with two fingers cut out on each hand. Very handsome and a little wild, he was much more used to women flirting back when he turned on the charm. Instantly intrigued, and never one to back down from a challenge, he took one last long draw on the cigarette and flicked it onto the grass. He reached for her shoulder again with a smile, saying something about its being a "shame dat someone so beautiful did not want to be touched," and that she had skin that was just made for touching.

Rogue blocked his arm swiftly, and stepped back again. "Yes, if you want to die a painful death!" she snapped. Gambit advanced again with a smile, and Rogue backed up till she felt the bench against her knees. With nowhere to go, and filled with panic at the thought of him touching her and adding himself to the assembly of mutants in her head already, Rogue thought of Pyro.

The still-smouldering cigarette flared to life in the grass. Rogue lifted her hand, and flames leaped up to separate the two of them.

Gambit leaped back, swearing. "What is your problem, _chere femme_? Gambit jus' tryin' to be friendly!"

"I'm not always a friendly person. How 'bout if we try this again later?" Rogue asked, keeping the flames leaping between them. Grinning at an extremely discomfited Remy, she finished, "…or not?"

"_Oui, chere_, I see you later," Remy said, backing away. As soon as he had reached a respectable distance, Rogue sat down again, turning her back on him. Taking a handful of flame, she threw it half-heartedly into the water and listened to the hiss it made. She did it again. Shaking her head, she put out the cigarette and the rest of the flames, leaving only one tiny fireball in her palm. She sighed and glanced guiltily at the patch of charred grass she had left there.

Gambit stood at a distance and watched her play with fire. He decided to proceed cautiously with this one, for fear of getting burned. "_Oui,_ burned on a number of levels," he said to himself.

Shaking his head, he turned around to start back to the mansion, and almost bumped into a shorter, burly man with wild hair. "Outta the way, bub," the fellow said.

_Author's note: Although this is mostly based on the films, I kinda like Wolverine's looks in the comics better. Hugh Jackman is entirely too tall and gorgeous to really look the part, so in this story you can imagine him a few inches shorter, a few inches broader, and a whole lot rougher. The smirk, however, remains the same. You know the one: it shows up at the end of X1, just as he's about to steal Cyc's motorcycle again._


	14. Doomed to Repeat it

_**"Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."**_

Gambit stepped aside, but warned him, "If you going to chat up de lady, I can tell you she bes' left alone, _mon ami_."

The guy stopped and looked back at him. "Two things: One, stay the hell outta my business, and two, I ain't yer freakin' pal." With a growl, he continued on his way toward the girl on the bench.

Gambit smirked a little and waited till the guy reached the bench. He thought the guy might need some help if Rogue set him on fire.

Logan, still mildly irked by his confrontation with the skinny Frenchman, strode over to Rogue and squeezed her shoulder. "Hey, darlin'."

Rogue, startled and thinking it was Remy again, jumped to her feet and launched her final fireball at him.

Wolverine roared and released his claws in a pained fury. Unthinking, he lashed out and swiped at his opponent with a growl. The raw gasp he heard helped to clear his head; he had heard that gasp once before and he realized it was Rogue! He sheathed his claws with a _shink_ and grabbed her shoulders. "Oh God, Rogue, honey, it's me. How bad is it?"

Rogue blinked. It was Logan. It was Logan, and she had just singed off his sideburns thinking he was that annoying French guy. Gloved, she reached up and gingerly took his face in her hands, turning it one way then the other to assess the damage. "Oh, no, Logan, I'm so sorry! Are you all right?"

He gave her a look that said, Duh, I'm the one with the healing mutation. Already his burns were healed; the only difference was he apparently couldn't grow hair as quickly as he could heal. He grabbed her wrists and held her still so he could gauge how badly he had hurt her. "I got'cha, didn't I?" he muttered. "L'me see how bad it is." Very cautiously, he eased her shirt down off one shoulder so he could see where his claws had torn lightly through the skin of her chest and shoulders. The three scrapes, right across her chest just at the top of her breasts, were oozing blood but fortunately were not very deep.

"Damn, I hate these claws. I'm sorry, darlin'." Without touching her, he traced the line of the slashes.

"I'm sorry too, Wolvie. I thought you were Gambit," Rogue replied.

"Is he that brainless Cajun I passed on my way here?" Wolverine growled a little.

Rogue let out an exasperated sigh. "Yes. He's kind of a pain. He just met me and thought he had Rogue-touching privileges."

Logan's growl got a little more menacing. "Want me to gut him?" The smell of Rogue's blood agitated him and as he gently pulled her shirt back in place his fingers were shaking.

One finger accidentally brushed against her skin for a brief moment, and Logan's head spun. He lost his balance and almost fell, but Rogue caught him and helped him sit down on the bench.

"Oh, no! Logan, are you okay?" Rogue asked desperately. He looked so pale! But at least he was conscious this time. He swayed a little, almost toppling off the bench, but she steadied him by the simple expedient of leaning him back against her. "Mah God, Logan, Ah thought you knew better!" she chided affectionately. Her original accent always came back under stress.

"Jus' tryin' ta show off for the Cajun," Wolverine slurred. He felt drunk. He could smell the man still somewhere nearby. Wolverine's healing factor was kicking in rapidly, but he still felt a little buzzed. He squinted and grinned up at her from where his head rested comfortably between her breasts. "Show him who has Rogue-touchin' privileges and who doesn't."

Rogue cuffed him affectionately on the side of the head. "Well, you must be feeling better if you're tryin' to flirt with me and be nasty to him at the same time!"

"I'm an efficient sorta guy."

"Seriously, Wolvie, don't scare me like that. You know enough to be careful around my skin! Now get up, willya? You're making me self-conscious, here."

Wolverine had been absently rubbing against her breasts with the back of his head as he leaned against her. Embarrassed, he grunted. "Ain't such a bad self to be conscious of," he muttered as he stood. He picked up his bag and grabbed Rogue's gloved hand. "All right, let's get you in to see Charlie. Didn't your parents ever warn you about playing with fire like that?"

"Nope. My mom taught me piano and how to play Cat's Cradle, and my dad taught me CPR, which I promptly forgot when I put my boyfriend into cardiac arrest…"

Her voice trailed off in the distance toward the house, where Gambit could no longer see her. He didn't think they had seen him as they approached the mansion – after what he had seen down at the pond, he certainly didn't want to get in the way of either of them! He had been able to see them fairly clearly from his hiding place, though, and he wondered how on earth Rogue had been able to heal so quickly from where her brawny friend had slashed her.

Gambit decided to re-think his approach of the beautiful – and apparently untouchable – Rogue. His first order of business was to find out what the relationship was between her and the muscle-bound Bad Attitude on legs. His thin lips curved into a smile. Jubilee and Kitty would definitely be able to help him there! He set off toward the mansion, resolved to corner them before dinner.

_Fun, fun, fun! I've got another chapter almost ready, too. Stay tuned! Mikko, Tammy, Sabeybaby, angw, and Artemis, thanks for the encouragement. Aliesha, are you still with me? Ravenwolf, I always like chronological fics as well. This one pretty much follows the course of the film canon, picking up where it left off. That was important to me, to keep things as accurate as possible. Especially the characterizations. Keep those reviews coming, mes amis!_


	15. A Skirmish with Oneself

Rogue and Logan ran into Kurt on their way in. He blinked and did a double-take, then smiled. "Ah, _Herr _Wolverine!" He pronounced it _Volferine._ "I think I might not be the only teleporter around here anymore, _ja_? You were not expected for another few days – you must travel as quickly as I do!"

Logan shook his hand. "Pretty near, with that turbo button on Cyc's bike. But I was on my way back already." At Kurt's questioning look, he dissembled. "I, uh – my business up north didn't take as long as I expected. So I came home."

Kurt was sharp. He understood the nuances of what people didn't say, just as much as what they did say. He nodded in agreement. "Yes, it is _gut_ for Xavier to give people like you and me a home, who otherwise would not have one."

"Uh, yeah. Well, we have to go see him now." Logan nodded to Kurt, Rogue smiled at him, and they left.

"I like Kurt," Rogue said thoughtfully as they approached Xavier's office door. "He's very understanding. Very human."

"Yeah, which is kinda odd for a bizarre blue elf like him," Logan commented, knocking on the door of the office.

"Logan, you're terrible!"

Charles Xavier looked up at his visitor's words and smiled. "Glad to see things are back to normal around here," he joked. "Then again, that dramatic scene by the pond wasn't exactly unusual for the two of you, now, was it?"

Rogue took comfort in his broad teasing smile. If he could kid with them, then there wasn't anything _too_ wrong!

Logan didn't agree. "It ain't really a laughin' matter, Charles. Kid was throwin' around fireballs out there. Seems kinda serious if you ask me. What the hell's goin' on?"

Rogue and Xavier explained the events of the past few days, both telepathic and actual. Wolverine smirked at the news that his mental presence in Rogue's head had been thrashing Pyro pretty much constantly since he first appeared. He was relieved at the news of the cell "block" that contained Pyro's presence, but worried about Pyro getting out since Rogue had access to his powers now. Logan was stunned to hear that Rogue had access to his and "Buckethead's" powers, too.

"And it's a lot more powerful now, too, since you touched me a few minutes ago. Your 'now' self is having quite a chat with your 'old' self, let me tell ya!" Rogue grinned impishly.

Logan lifted an eyebrow. Xavier cocked his head, intrigued. "Rogue, would you mind if I listened in?" he gestured toward his head. Rogue shrugged, and Xavier telepathically visited Rogue's busy mind again. After a moment, Rogue had entered a meditative state and showed up beside him.

This time they found Wolverine outside the mansion near the pond, arguing with himself. The mental Logan looked just the same as the original Wolverine, only with singed sideburns. As Rogue and Xavier drew close enough to hear their heated discussion, Rogue blushed.

Logan was arguing with himself, literally, about Rogue's breasts.

"She's a kid! She hardly even has any!" Wolverine maintained.

"You're an idiot! Have you even _seen _her lately?" Logan said hotly.

"Every day in the mirror, bub. Naked."

"Okay, maybe you're not an idiot. You're just blind!"

"What the hell are you doin', starin' at Rogue's breasts, anyway? Keep that up and you're gonna be the one goin' blind!" And Wolverine held up two of his claws menacingly pointed at Logan's eyes.

Logan suddenly grinned lasciviously. "What are you talkin' about? That don't _really _make ya go blind, pal. They got proof now. Where've _you_ been?"

Wolverine joined him in a bawdy chuckle, which was interrupted by Rogue's pointedly clearing her throat. Logan stopped laughing and looked away, embarrassed, but Wolverine gave her a beaming grin. "Hey, kid! I knew you couldn't get ridda me that easy. My upgrade here says all he did was brush up against you a little and boom, here he is! So how come he's not like Blurry Bobby?"

"Probably because you were already here," Xavier said. "You had established a presence within Rogue's mind already. Soon the two of you will probably merge into one, which will probably be a relief to Rogue."

"Why, wha's wrong?" Wolvie asked. He looked at Rogue and caught her furious, blushing glare. "Oh." He nudged Logan. "Guess maybe we shoulda toned it down some, eh?"

"Ya think so?" Rogue asked. She gave an exasperated sigh. "I really, really didn't need this! Listen, if you guys are going to act so juvenile, why don't you hang out with David and Bobby? That way I won't have to listen to you, because you'll be locked in a room in Mississippi!"

"Sounds like she's mad," Wolvie commented. Logan arched an eyebrow at his döppelganger, and said nothing.

"Let me put it to you this way, _boys,"_ Rogue hissed, "If I have to listen to this kind of bickering from you again, I'm sending you both to Erik for chess lessons!"

"We're sorry," Logan said.

"We'll behave," Wolvie promised sincerely.

"Good." Rogue turned on her heel. "Professor, can we get out of here?" Xavier nodded curtly, and they both returned to their bodies in Xavier's office.

Logan, sitting in Xavier's office with two vacant-eyed people, amused himself with thoughts of repositioning their bodies in comical postures while they were gone from them. Xavier, returning to his body, caught the thought and fixed Logan with a glare.

Logan gave him an insouciant grin and said nothing except, "Welcome back."

_Feel free to review at your leisure. There's more on the way!_


	16. Getting Used to Replacements

"Thanks," Rogue said absently. Then she saw him and remembered his newest presence in her mind. "Professor? How long do you think it'll be before they merge?"

"I don't know, Rogue. How long was it last time?"

"You mean when Logan touched me on the Statue? It was immediate, I think. I didn't really know how to go in there and talk to them all back then, though. But also, there had only been one day between one touch and the next. This time it's been close to a year and a half. His original presence is pretty strong."

"So, I guess I'm givin' you trouble up there," Logan ventured, with a gesture at Rogue's head.

Rogue started to glare at him, then shook her head and smiled. "You don't know the half of it," she told him. "I'm getting the strong impression we really need to talk."

Logan frowned. "We've been doing nothing but talking since I got here, darlin'. Think I've talked more in the last couple weeks than I did in the whole year I was gone."

"I, for one, am not surprised at that," Xavier observed. "But we should be talking about Rogue's idea to visit the genuine versions of the people in her mind."

At Logan's questioning look, Rogue explained, "The professor and I have been doing some exercises which, if they work, might allow me to push the energy _out_ when I'm touched, instead of just sucking it in. Theoretically, it might be possible to simply touch each person and put back whatever I got from them. I would lose all their memories and powers if I did that, though. It's a hard decision to make, even if I could make my power work that way."

"Well, if you need a guinea pig, I volunteer –" Logan said.

"That might not be best," Xavier interrupted. "Presently, Rogue needs your mental presence to help, uh, keep the others in check. If she lost your presence first, it might cause serious damage to her through the others."

"Ya know, for a telepath, Chuck, you can make some pretty bad calls. I was gonna say 'I volunteer Iceman.'" Logan reached into his shirt pocket for a cigar, but out of respect for Rogue's inner Pyro, he merely fiddled with it, unlit.

Xavier was almost embarrassed to admit it, but Logan might have had a good idea. He knew the man had it for the wrong reasons – he simply didn't like Bobby Drake – but the fact remained that Bobby was the one who had the least effect on Rogue's psyche. She'd gone for days without even realizing he was there.

"Good idea. I'll ask him about it," Xavier said. Ignoring the twin expressions of shock before him, he smiled blandly and picked up his pen. "Meanwhile, Rogue, aren't you supposed to meet Scott for your lesson? And Logan, if you don't mind braving the med-lab again, Dr. McCoy has requested a blood sample from you if you're willing. He asked me to emphasize that it was strictly voluntary, but that it might help with some of his research. In any case, he thought it might interest you."

So Rogue went off to see Scott, and Logan headed down to the lower levels. He hadn't really met the new doctor yet, but Kurt seemed a decent guy and he was blue, too. "I hate to tell ya, Doc," he said, walking into the lab and seeing McCoy's huge, blue, furry form squeezed into a desk chair, "But the last doctor they had here was a helluva lot prettier than you."

Hank looked up with a sad smile. "I think 'helluva lot' is a helluva understatement, but otherwise I agree." He eased himself out of the chair and rose to offer his hand to Logan. "I'm Hank McCoy. It's nice to finally meet you. Do you prefer to be called Logan or Wolverine?" He smiled. "Or, having recently seen your x-rays from your last visit and being intensely intimidated, perhaps I'll simply call you 'sir.'"

Logan grunted. Maybe this doctor wasn't going to turn out to be so bad.

He wasn't really used to being asked about his preferences, other than the "How do you want it, baby?" that he used to hear on a regular basis, or the "What'll you have?" that he still did.

Logan ansered, "Either. No one ever called me Logan before I came here. Guess Charles musta lifted the name outta my head or somethin', 'cause Rogue told me she didn't tell him what it was."

"So which would you prefer?"

"Logan, I guess. Doesn't matter much. So what's this research you been doin'?"

Hank excitedly explained about his recent discovery of the slight differences in the X-gene in different mutants. "It's fascinating, because what I seem to be finding is that mutants whose powers are centred on themselves have a slightly different variation in their X-gene than mutants whose powers are focussed outwards."

"Great, Doc. What's all that when it's at home?"

"What I mean, Mr. Logan, is that mutants such as yourself, with your healing powers, and Rogue, with her draining skin, share one kind of X-gene, while the telepaths and the mutants who can manipulate their environments rather than themselves, have another kind. It's very exciting, and it could lead to some insight on how various sorts of powers could be suppressed."

"You mean, like Rogue could figure out how to control her skin?" Logan asked.

"Exactly. Or you, if you were interested in body art for example, might be able to suppress your healing ability in that one spot, so that you could grow a scar or get a tattoo."

Logan grunted. That's all he needed – an Achilles' heel! "No, I'm good," he said. "But it'd be nice for Rogue if she could control her skin somehow." He shed his jacket and started rolling up his sleeve. "Xavier said you wanted a blood sample from me."

Hank pushed his glasses up on his nose with a fuzzy finger, and beamed. "Thank you, Mr. Logan."

"Just Logan, Doc."

"Just Hank, then."

_Don't forget to review! Y'all are making me into a review-whore. Aren't you ashamed of yourselves!_


	17. Training

Rogue was having trouble with her combat lesson. She could tell that Scott's heart simply wasn't in it, and was glad that Logan was going to be taking over soon. After scoring her third hit on her instructor, she stopped and told him she felt she didn't have his full attention.

"We could make this a powers-on combat lesson if you want. Think that would get your attention?" she teased.

He gave her a small smile. He hadn't been smiling very much in the past few weeks. "Think you could get close enough to touch me?"

"Wouldn't need to," Rogue said. "I've got a few new tricks, or haven't you heard?" With a smile, she waved her hand and some of the metal panels in the wall detached themselves and surrounded Scott before he could react.

Scott tapped lightly on one of the panels. "Uh, Rogue? These panels are kind of expensive. Would you mind putting them back so I don't have to blast my way out?"

Grinning, she flicked a finger and the panels flew back to their homes. Scott, revealed, was standing there motionless with his head bowed. Finally he lifted his head and fixed her with a longsuffering expression. "I think someone's been a bad influence on you."

"Look on the bright side. At least it isn't Logan this time," Rogue said.

"Yes, but I don't know as Magneto's such an improvement over him," Scott replied. He picked up his things and suggested they end the lesson. "Does Professor Xavier know you've been…channelling his nemesis?"

"Sure does. It's done wonders for my chess game," Rogue replied as they left the gym together. After a moment of thought, she asked, "So, Scott…which one is better – the polite, gentlemanly man who tried to kill me, or the asshole who's saved my life several times?"

"Don't make me answer that," was Scott's reply.

"Hey, Cyc," Logan greeted as they passed him leaving the med-lab. He looked amused, and Rogue had the feeling he had heard at least the last part of their conversation.

"Welcome back, Logan," Scott said politely. "Nice hair." He kept a straight face when he saw the Wolverine's singed sideburns. Scott felt just the tiniest bit awkward around him, since the last time they'd been together, they'd both been drunk and crying. He was fairly sure the manly thing to do was pretend it never happened, and go on acting as if they didn't like each other.

Luckily for Scott, that seemed to be Logan's _modus operandi_ as well. He left the hair comment strictly alone, though. "Didn't think you'd be done messing up Rogue's combat training quite yet," he commented. "Must've gotten an early start."

"I'm efficient that way," Scott said sarcastically. "Apparently, no one can mess up quite as fast as I can." Rogue knew he was still very bitter about first having been captured, and then forced to shoot at his own fiancée. While her subsequent death had been her own choice, in order to save them all, he still felt as if he should have done more. He was the team leader after all, and all he had done was hinder the team.

Logan was sympathetic, but showed it in a manly way. "Shut up, Cyc," he said gruffly,clapping Scott on the shoulder briefly. He glanced at Rogue. "If Summers isn't up to it, want to have a go-round with me?"

"Sure, but it'll have to be after my flight lesson. Powers or no?"

"No powers. I want to keep what's left of my hair." Logan scowled as he remembered something. "Cyc, who's that ponce with the trenchcoat?"

"Oh, Gambit? He's new here; the professor invited him up here from New Orleans. He's sort of auditioning to join the team. We needed a couple of new members anyway, but Rogue hasn't joined yet, and Bobby (as you saw) needs a hell of a lot more training first. I take it you met him and made your usual charming first impression?" Scott could deadpan every bit as well as Logan when he wanted to.

Wolverine grunted. Rogue answered for him, "We both met him earlier, yes. He's kind of…" she couldn't think of exactly the right word, since she didn't usually like to swear.

Logan had no such compunctions. "...a dick?"

"Persistant," Rogue said.

"Let me know if he keeps buggin' ya, Rogue. He'll turn from dick to dick-less pretty quick."

"Lovely," Scott commented. "I can tell that with a protector like you, Rogue will be sure to die an embittered old maid." He couldn't resist baiting the Wolverine.

"Hey, he _did_ protect Bobby, the night of the break-in," Rogue defended him. "'Course, then I dumped Bobby on his ass, but it wasn't Logan who scared him off."

"Heh. That's what you think," Logan said under his breath. He grinned slightly at the memory of brutally stabbing the intruder in front of Bobby, and then coolly asking the boy, "You okay?" He hadn't been able to tell if Bobby had nodded, or was just trembling with so much fear that it made his head bob. After Bobby's pitiful attempt to intimidate him by freezing his hand, the kid had definitely had it coming. It was one of several fond memories of that night.

Logan squinted at Rogue. "So are you done with this joker?" he indicated Scott.

Scott huffed. "More like I'm done with her! At least for the day," he amended. "I don't think even Xavier can afford her combat lessons when she really lets loose! I'll see you tomorrow." He gave Rogue a rueful grin and walked off.

"So…" Logan said, temporarily at a loss. He wanted to talk with Rogue, but didn't want to interrupt her day too much.

Rogue smiled. "So…" she teased. Shifting her weight uncertainly, she asked, "You, uh, wanna go get some dinner or something after my flying lesson?"

"What, with Storm?"

Rogue nodded.

"Wow, they're serious about making you an X-man, huh?"

"Don't laugh too loud, Wolvie. You're next, you know. You're lucky you're not gonna be in the simulator with me!"

Logan was just about to make another sarcastic comment, when they were interrupted by Storm and Kurt. "Actually, he will be," Storm said, having overheard Rogue's last comment. We've been looking for the two of you."

"Whattaya want me for?" Logan asked, suspicious.

"Flying lessons," Kurt said, amused. "We are all supposed to learn how to fly the Blackbird. It was good of you to return so soon, _mein freund_, otherwise Rogue and I would have had to start by ourselves."

Logan deliberately raised one eyebrow at Storm, then the other. She looked unimpressed. "You want _me_ to learn to fly that thing?" he asked, incredulous.

Rogue grinned at his expression. "Yeah, c'mon, Logan. It'll be fun! What, do you think it might be too much for you?" She grinned wider at his cold glare. "Come on, now, if I can do it so can you. After all, I'm the one who actually fell out of the damn thing!"

Ororo explained calmly, "All of the X-men learn how to fly the jet. If the pilot is wounded on a mission, any of the rest of us can still fly everyone to safety. I know that none of you are X-men yet, but you've all expressed interest, or – " she looked pointedly at Wolverine, "—piqued the interest of Professor Xavier on behalf of the team. So yes, Logan, I want _you_ to learn to fly that thing. And you, Rogue, and you, Kurt. Let's go." Ororo had experience being a goddess – one thing she knew how to do was lead people and make them follow her.

The flight simulator was enough like the Blackbird that Rogue started to shiver in fear as the door was shut. She still vividly remembered the yawning terror in the pit of her stomach when she'd been blown out of the plane. Logan came up behind her and clasped her shoulder briefly, and she calmed. He looked at her, nodded once, and they took their places.

_Help slake my addiction; click on "Go" and tell me what you think. Remember it still doesn't have an ending yet._


	18. Crashing and Burning

Ororo began the lesson by pointing out what controls were what, and explaining what they were to do. They were each to take off, make at least one slow circle, and then land again. Rogue went first. She had already done this at Alkali Lake, and knowing that both Logan and Kurt were there she felt much safer. She made one lazy circle, and set down again relatively smoothly.

Kurt did even better. Having a natural understanding of gravity from his days as a tumbler, combined with his inborn sense of how 3-dimensional travel worked because of his teleportation, Kurt managed two circles and a very smooth landing.

"Wow, Kurt, that was great for a first time," Ororo raved.

"Not bad, Blue," Logan commented as he eased himself into the pilot's chair. "Let's see if I can top it."

Logan took off much too fast, and his passengers were sure that his circle nearly broke the sound barrier. Then he saw a button that looked like the turbo-toggle on Scott's bike. "What's this do?" he asked, pressing it.

"No, Logan, that's –" Ororo started to shout. Rogue screamed and drowned her out, while Kurt started to pray fervently.

The plane spiralled rapidly toward the ground. Just before it crashed, Kurt grabbed Rogue's hand in his, wrapped his prehensile tail around Ororo's wrist, and they disappeared in a puff of sulphurous smoke.

Logan, left alone in the simulator, was jolted sharply in his seat when the "plane" crashed. Coughing, he unbuckled his seat belt and made his way towards the exit. Once outside, his missing companions rejoined him.

Logan was grinning. "Well, that wasn't so bad!"

"Logan, you crashed the plane!" Storm was seething. "If this had been real, we would all probably be dead by now!"

Logan, amused, took out a cigar and jammed it into his mouth. "Nah. You lot would be fine with the blue elf here, and I'd probably be walking away just like now." He struck a match and began to light up.

Rogue narrowed her eyes at the small flame, and the match flared up and burned his fingers. He swore and dropped it, then when he looked up accusingly at her, she growled. "If you ever do that again, I swear I willkeep my hands onyou all the way down so that _I'm_ the one walking away!"

Logan couldn't help himself. He winked at her and murmured salaciously, "Darlin', if you're puttin' your hands on me _all the way down,_ it'd be worth it."

Kurt's tail twitched in amusement. Rogue just growled again and stomped away.

"Class dismissed!" Ororo called after her, with another glare at Logan. He grinned. Kurt grinned back before trotting off after Storm.

Logan, left alone with the smoking simulator, shrugged. "Well, _I _thought it was fun," he said aloud to the empty air. He waited until the smoke cleared out of the simulator, and then went back in.

Xavier watched him from the control room as he executed a perfect, if speedy takeoff, several tight circles with perfect control, and as smooth a landing as Storm had ever done. His brow furrowed. Wolverine was certainly unpredictable – and for a telepath to think that, it meant something. Xavier let his mind touch Logan's for just the briefest of moments, and was surprised at the sense of shock he felt. It was Logan's sense of shock at himself. His foremost thought was, "Whoa. Didn't know I knew how to do that!" This time he went ahead and lit his cigar as he swaggered down the ramp.

The grin never left his face as he left to find Rogue for dinner. She seemed to have forgiven him, but was still playfully giving him a hard time about it. He teased back and the incident was forgotten as they arranged for him to start her combat training the next morning.

_Feed my addiction: review!_


	19. The Nose Always Knows

Next morning, Rogue didn't show up on time. Logan waited five minutes for her, then gave an impatient sigh and went out looking for her. He sniffed in the main hallway; she'd been here. He followed her scent to the dining room, but the trail ended in yellow.

"Hey, Wolvie! Whassup?" Jubilee asked him.

"Don't call me that, kid. Where did Rogue go?"

Jubilee shrugged and shoved a forkful of pancakes into her mouth before answering, "Ha'n't seen 'er yet to'ay."

Wolverine scowled. He could have sworn he still smelled Rogue's floral-scented shampoo. He stomped off, still sniffing suspiciously.

When he passed the lounge, he caught a whiff of Rogue's strawberry-vanilla-scented soap. He followed the scent to its source, but found only Kitty sitting on the couch studying. "Hey, half-pint. Where's Rogue?"

Kitty looked up nervously. "I, uh, don't know. She missed breakfast. Have you checked her room?"

Logan glared at her. "Well, yuh!" he said. Turning abruptly on his heel, he stalked off toward Rogue's bedroom. As he neared it, he heard some odd sounds coming from behind her door. If he didn't know better… but no. Rogue couldn't have sex even if she wanted to, not with her skin. But it did sound like it, with all the gasping and moaning. And thrashing.

Logan shook his head and knocked heavily on the door. Then opened it and cursed. He ran to the bed. "Rogue? Are you okay?"

Rogue was sitting bolt upright in bed, gasping for breath, her skin pale and her eyes wide. She didn't respond. Logan grabbed her shoulder and gave it a little shake, then passed a hand rapidly in front of her eyes. No response. "Rogue? C'mon, kid, work with me here." She smelled frightened and not like herself.

Rogue blinked, and focussed on Logan. He sighed in relief. Good, good, this was good. She didn't look at his face, but at his pocket, which contained his silver lighter. Oh. Bad. She jerked her hand and the lighter flew out of his pocket. It hovered in midair between them. Rogue twitched a finger and the tiny flame sputtered up from it as it hovered.

The flame grew taller. Rogue reached out a tentative hand toward it. Wolverine could feel its heat; Rogue would be burned in a second if she got any closer. Frowning, Logan reached out and fleetingly touched her face. He almost didn't feel the pull of her skin, it was so quick, but it was enough to break her concentration. She blinked again, and the lighter dropped.

Logan caught it in midair, shut it, and put it back in his pocket.

Rogue burst into tears and collapsed against him. Logan pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair as she cried. He murmured soothing words, promised her everything would be okay, told her that he was here with her and that he would help her. What finally got her calmed down enough to smile through her tears was when he offered to find Pyro and Magneto and kick both of their scrawny Brotherhood asses.

Rogue sat up and wiped her face roughly, impatient with her own tears. "Sorry," she said, hating how her voice trembled. "Didn't mean to fall apart on you. It's – it's kinda scary though. It's like suddenly – 'watch out, everyone! Rogue suddenly has a whole _new_ way to kill people by accident.'"

Wolverine grinned, trying to lighten the mood. "No way, sweetheart. When you kill someone, you should always mean it."

"Yes, but how can I control it so I don't hurt people by accident? I almost killed you yesterday at the pond, Logan. Anyone who didn't heal like you do could have been seriously injured!"

He shrugged. "Just do what I do. If you kill someone by accident, just tell people you meant to."

This startled Rogue into a laugh, and she swatted playfully at him. When he blocked the teasing blow and then took her gloved hand in his larger one, she realized how close to Logan she was still sitting. She shifted away and tried to take back her hand, but he kept a firm grip. "You probably shouldn't be touching me, Logan. I honestly have no control over who I hurt, at the moment. I could seriously damage you by accident."

Logan gave her hand a little squeeze. "That's bull. I don't damage easy. And don't tell me I shouldn't be touchin' ya. I trust you. You trust me. So don't worry about it, darlin'. We'll solve this."

Rogue looked up with a little mischief in her watery eyes. "You promise?"

Logan grinned, knowing she was quoting herself. "Yeah, kid. I promise." He pulled his sleeve down over his hand and wiped her face with it, then shifted his weight away from her. "So, you wanna answer a question for me?" She nodded. "You wanna tell me why the the whole downstairs smells like you, when you haven't even been down yet?"

Rogue giggled.

Logan scowled ferociously and went on, "I go into the dining room this morning, ready to chew you out for missin' my lesson, and all I find is the yellow rose of Xavier's, stuffin' her face. Fine, I think you musta just left. Then I smell you in the lounge, but there's just a timid little Kitty doin' her homework. So I start to think you're afraid of startin' your combat lessons with me, and you're trying to avoid me or something. Which is stupid, 'cause you had to know I'd find you anyway." He sniffed deeply, and looked puzzled. "Come to notice, you _don't_ smell like usual. You smell like… I don't know who you smell like, but it's different. What's going on?"

Rogue explained. "Well, I still kinda have your mutation after what happened yesterday. Your sense of smell and everything. So when I tried to take a bath last night, all of a sudden I couldn't stand the smell of my bath stuff. I gave Jubilee my shampoo, and Kitty wanted my body wash. I already had some unscented soap, but all the shampoos have some kind of floral scent, so –"

Logan sniffed again, deeply, trying to place her present scent. He knew it was familiar, but… Rogue blushed, knowing what he was doing. "So, um, Logan? Please don't be mad, but I… snuck into your room last night while you were watching the game after dinner and stole some of your shampoo. That's probably what you're smelling."

The look of recognition in his eyes reassured her. "_That's_ it," he exclaimed, hitting his thigh with one fist. "I knew I recognised it, but just couldn't place it."

He leaned closer, sniffing, and Rogue laughed a little. "Are you mad? I knew that you of all people would have a shampoo that didn't stink too much."

Logan was a little distracted by the way she smelled. It did something odd to him, knowing that she bore his scent; impacted him on a primal level. Oh. Wait a second; she had spoken. Asked something. If he was mad. "What? Oh, no, course not, darlin'. You know you're welcome to anything I have."

"Good to know!" Rogue replied with an impish smile. Then the smile fell away and she glared at him. "Hey, what did you mean, avoiding you? I was busy having a mental breakdown, thank you very much. Afraid of your combat lessons, hah! I'm not afraid of you! Never have been, never will be." She scowled and crossed her arms.

Logan grinned, glad that her mood had improved. He played along. "Oh no? Let's see if you can still say that when you're a walking bruise, eh?" He got up and headed toward the door.

Rogue reminded him that she still had his healing factor, and promised to be gentle with him for his first time. He laughed out loud as they walked down the hall, earning himself a glare from Bobby and a strange glance from Jubilee. Kitty just scrunched down further into the lounge's sofa.

_Wait till you see their sparring scene; they really kick some mutant butt. Next chapter should be up by tomorrow._


	20. Sparring and Evicting

The lesson went well. Wolverine started by assessing her current level, and was relieved to find she hadn't learned all that much from Scott yet. Good. That meant he wouldn't have to un-teach her before he could start teaching her. Rogue had good instincts, he discovered, and quick reflexes. She was taller than he remembered, and she used her height gracefully and well.

Rogue found that while she was fighting with Wolverine, it kept her whole brain involved and she didn't have any thoughts left for her mental inhabitants. This gave her such a sense of relief as she hadn't felt for several weeks! Not even meditation gave her this kind of peace. Plus, the healing factor that Logan had so recently refilled was working to her advantage. Every blow of his that landed only bruised her for a couple of seconds and in fact increased her adrenaline level. Now she knew why, when he was cage fighting, he would take several blows before striking his first one.

The world seemed to narrow around them. Kick. Block. Punch. Roll. Attack. Block. Punch. Kick. Logan explained a few basic moves, but she found that it felt more as if he were _reminding_ her than showing her for the first time. When he realized she still had his own memories of how to fight, he just started the straight sparring. Less than one-quarter-strength, of course, and he started very slowly. So slowly, in fact, that Rogue teased him during a particularly lengthy pause by offering him a big, catlike yawn that showed all her teeth.

The animal inside Wolverine responded to the challenge, and he speeded up and increased the force of his attacks. Fewer and fewer of his blows were landing, though, the longer they fought. More of Rogue's blows _were._ Logan did let several of them through on purpose, but she also managed to surprise him a few times.

Finally, he called time. He tossed her a water bottle. "Here, drink this. Let's take a break before round two."

Rogue drank half of it in one gulp, then grimaced. "Ugh. You could at least have gotten it from the fridge, Logan. Warm water is nobody's friend."

He frowned. "I _did_ get it from the fridge. What's the prob– " he glanced up at the clock and blinked. "Uh, Rogue? You don't have another session this morning, do you?"

Rogue shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, if you do, you've missed it. It's two in the afternoon."

"_What_?" Rogue glared at the clock, daring it to tell her the truth. It was almost 2 PM. They had been fighting for 5 ½ hours. "Holy shit!" the unladylike exclamation escaped her lips before she knew it.

Logan laughed. "I did think you'd made a lot of improvement for only one session, darlin'! I guess they're right: time flies when you're having fun."

The two of them found Nightcrawler in the dining room, also having a late lunch. "Hey, elf," Logan greeted. Rogue said a smiling hello and slid into a spot opposite Kurt at the table.

"_Guten Tag_, Rogue, Wolverine. Are the two of you ready for our second flying lesson today?"

"What, Storm's gonna get me up there _again_ with you guys? What are you all, gluttons for punishment?" Logan joked as he filled his plate with what was left of the lunch buffet. "Hey kid, you gonna eat, or what?"

Rogue snorted. "Depends on whether or not you're going to pilot today! I'd rather not have to lose it later!" she retorted. Logan gave her a broad grin, and Kurt laughed aloud.

xxx xxx xxx

That evening, Xavier called Rogue to his office. Logan tagged along, knowing that she might want him there… and quite plainly, he was curious. Wondering if Xavier had spoken to Bobby yet, his question was answered by the sight of a slightly nervous and sullen Bobby already sitting in one of the armchairs.

"Ah, Rogue. Logan. Please come in. I have explained your plans to Bobby, and he is willing to help you with your experiment, Rogue."

Rogue took a seat on the couch next to Bobby's chair and gave him a friendly smile. "Thanks, Bobby. If this works, it'll be a big help to me."

Bobby, still a little petulant about their break-up, nodded back impatiently. He glanced at Logan, who was settling himself onto the couch next to Rogue. "I still don't understand why she can't experiment on him first. I mean, he's the one with the healing thing. I'll probably end up in a coma!"

Logan started to say something, but Rogue put a restraining hand on his arm. "I won't hold on that long, Bobby. Just a few seconds – after all, that was pretty much the length of our kiss. And I can't experiment on Logan because if it does work then he'll be gone from my head. I can't afford to have him gone."

"Oh, but you can do without me very well," Bobby said sarcastically.

Professor Xavier gave him a sharp look. "Bobby, you will remember I told you that there are aspects of this problem that you are not privy to. You told me that was all right. Have you changed your mind?"

Bobby subsided, shaking his head meekly.

Rogue leaned over to him. "Bobby, it's not like that. It's just that you and I didn't touch for long enough for you to become a strong presence in my mind. It wasn't until a couple days after that kiss that I even realized you were there at all."

Logan smirked at Bobby's affronted expression. "Yeah," he said innocently, remembering something Rogue had told him earlier. "Apparently there's so little of you there that me and Magneto both call you 'Blurry Bobby' up there."

Iceman glowered at him, and Logan's smirk became a full-fledged grin. Rogue rolled her eyes and sighed. "If you want to stay, Logan, please stop helping me!"

Logan acquiesced, contenting himself with exchanging amused glances with Xavier.

"All right, so what do you want me to do?" Bobby asked Rogue, but she had closed her eyes and was breathing deeply, and didn't answer.

Rogue had to meditate for a few minutes to put herself into the proper state to converse with her mental tenants, and then it took a few more before she even found her mental Iceman. "Hey, Bobby," she said. "I'm going to try and put you back, all right?"

Her mental impression of Bobby glowered at her just as the real one had done a moment before. Closing her eyes, she reached out and touched the Bobby in her head at the same time her body reached out and touched the one sitting beside her. Concentrating hard, she just _pushed,_ with all of the mental strength she possessed, and suddenly Blurry Bobby was gone.

Bobby Drake gasped at the sensation, and quickly pulled his hand away from Rogue's before the pull could start up again. Rogue's eyelids fluttered, and she started to go limp. Logan caught her and pulled her up against him. "You all right, darlin'?" he whispered.

Rogue nodded, eyes still tightly closed. "It worked," she said. "I can't find him now."

"That's because I'm right here," Bobby said. "You pushed me out! You didn't even give me a choice."

Rogue opened her eyes and sat up. Logan kept his hand on her shoulder as she told her ex-boyfriend, "As another of my mental pals told me, it should be up to me who I have living in my own head, Bobby!"

"Do you remember anything?" Xavier asked Bobby curiously.

Bobby shook his head, eyes clenched shut. Then they popped open and he stared at Logan. "Yes. Yes, I do! I remember you, fighting with John all the time! And there's this old guy in a tower…" he shut his eyes again, then smiled. "And some kid who's always playing with Rogue's underwear…" He opened his eyes and blushed. He knew what she looked like naked! He couldn't meet her eyes. His were drawn, inevitably, down toward her cleavage. He couldn't help himself. He stared, now knowing what her breasts really looked like! He had never expected to find that out, never!

"Bobby!" Rogue said in an outraged tone.

"Kid, you'd best be keepin' your eyes in your head, or I'll be takin' 'em out." Logan growled.

With an effort, Bobby raised his eyes to look at Rogue. "Sorry. Sorry. It's just that… well, this is weird. Now I know what it's like for you in there. Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Rogue smiled sadly. "Bobby, I tried. What else could I have said? You didn't believe me."

"How much do you know?" Xavier asked.

Unfortunately for Rogue's experiment, Bobby knew a lot. _A LOT_. As he told more about what he had learned during his sojourn inside Rogue's mind, Rogue and Xavier exchanged worried glances. They were both thinking the same thing, but it was Logan who put it into words.

"Well, there's no way she can be trying this with the others, Charles. They'll end up knowing as much about this place, you, and me, as Rogue does. I'm not having Magneto privy to all my little secrets. Bad enough he can work me like a puppet on a string, but – " he broke off as he began to lose his temper a little.

"I agree, Logan. It's utterly out of the question. I'm sorry, Rogue."

Rogue shrugged. "Well, I kinda half-expected it not to work anyway, but hey – at least this saves us trying to track down Erik and John and trying to parley with them. We'll just have to go to plan B."

"What do you mean, you were expecting it not to work?" Bobby demanded. "You mean you were just planning to touch me for kicks? You could have really hurt me!"

"Bobby, you may go," Xavier told him mildly. "Thank you for your time."

Bobby got up and left. Just as he closed the door, Xavier cocked his head and closed his eyes for a moment. "There," he said when he reopened them. "Now Bobby will not remember anything that happened in here today. He'll think I wanted to speak about his schoolwork."

"Good one, Charles," Logan said. He looked over at Rogue. "All right, darlin', what's plan B?"

_Go on, review! I think this is the halfway point, so tell me what you think._


	21. Improvising Plan B

Chapter 21: Improvising Plan B

"Plan B is where the Professor and I wall off all of my mental tenants like he did to Pyro. That way, I'll be the one in control of them, instead of the other way around."

"It will take some time and preparation, though, on both our parts," Xavier said. He gazed at the door where Bobby had disappeared for a moment, and then said to Rogue, "I think you may have found the solution to your mental Logan problem, though. That is, if Wolverine's prior presence has not yet merged with his more recent one."

Rogue blinked. "They haven't. They've still been arguing and fighting all the timeand it's driving me nuts. Charles, that's a good idea." She glanced eagerly at Logan. "Would you mind?"

"Mind what?" he asked suspiciously. "I thought you wanted to keep me up there, you know, for protection?"

"Well, the old you can stay. I'm sort of used to you. The new you – well, he keeps arguing with the old you about… well, about stuff, and you're just not getting along with yourself. I want to put the new you back into your head. Would that be okay with you?"

Logan gave her a long, deliberate look before he spoke. "All right, but I'm going to want to know what I'm arguing with myself about."

Rogue gave an unladylike guffaw. "Oh, you will, Logan. _Trust _me."

Xavier's eyes sparkled with amusement. "Rogue, I must admit to some curiosity."

She grinned at him. "Oh, you can watch, Charles. The more, the merrier! Just as long as you don't decide to camp out there like the others do." She took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes, entering a meditative state almost immediately.

This time they appeared in Rogue's mental equivalent of the Danger Room, where Wolverine and the newcomer Logan were wrestling each other on the floor, yelling at each other as they fought.

"I'm tellin' ya, bub, the geeks have made you soft. A year ago you coulda kicked my ass!" Wolverine shouted to his double. He ducked a blow and lodged a kick in the gut to his opponent.

Logan doubled over with the blow, but then reacted lightning fast to grab the foot and get Wolverine off balance. "I ain't soft! Only thing 'round here that's soft is your brain!" He pulled Wolverine's foot and the older fellow went down.

Wolverine rolled quickly and was back on his feet in a flash. "At least I don't go 'round messin' with little kids!" he growled. He popped the claws and slashed through Logan's torso.

Logan roared in fury and flew at Wolverine, tackling him to the ground. Releasing his own claws, he slashed the other man's throat out. Then he stabbed him in the chest. Then he stood up, panting over his foe, and delivered a vicious kick to Wolverine's ribs.

Wolverine was down for the count. Still conscious, he could not speak until his torn throat knit itself back together, and he could not move until his stab wounds healed. All in all, Logan figured he had maybe three minutes before his enemy would be up fighting again. He backed away, starting to catch his breath. Glaring at Wolverine, he promised, "I'll do worse than that, next time you call Rogue a little kid. And I'll kick your ass like no one ever has, _bub,_ if you ever say anything like that to me again."

Rogue's hand flew to her mouth in shock. Wolverine saw Rogue and Xavier standing nearby (it was still strange to see Xavier standing at all, but he needed no wheelchair in the mind) and tried to tell Logan. A few bubbles burst out of his torn throat, but that was all he could do yet.

Logan went on. "I only know a little more about my past than you did, but I know a helluva lot more about my future. And let me tell ya something: she's in it. I don't know how yet, but it's true. And even if it does turn out to be what you're thinking, she's an adult. She's all grown up now, and probably a helluva lot more mature than either of us. And I want to be with her, if she'll have me."

Wolverine's throat was better by the time Logan finished this noble speech, but he didn't get up. He stretched out his legs and folded his hands behind his head as he lay on his back. Winking at Rogue and Xavier, he told Logan, "Well, bub, now's your chance to find out."

Logan's head whipped around and he backed away slowly.

Rogue was astonished. She knew Logan was a flirt, but didn't know he had actual, genuine feelings for her other than friendship. Without hesitating, without even sparing a thought for what Xavier might think, she walked right up to Logan and took his face in her (bare!) hands. She sent up a brief prayer of thanksgiving that at least she could touch people in her own mind. Softly, she said, "Thank you, Logan," and kissed him full on the lips.

One stunned second later he was kissing her back, winding his hands in her hair and holding her tightly against him. Then she backed off.

"What does this mean?" Logan asked her in a strained voice.

"We'll figure that out later," Rogue promised. "Just one more thing I have to do first." She went over to Wolverine, still supine on the floor.

He smirked at her. "Nice show, kid. Do I get one?" He winked.

Rogue returned his smirk and offered a hand to help him up. He arched an eyebrow, but took it. She helped him stand. "As a matter of fact…" she said as she noted in passing that he seemed completely healed, "yes. You do." And she pressed her lips to his.

Wolverine tried to push her away, but the attempt was so half-hearted that Rogue had no trouble batting his hands away and continuing the kiss. After another long moment, he slowly slid his hands up to encircle her shoulders. One hand tangled in the back of her hair, holding her head still so he could have better access to her mouth.

When they came up for air, Wolverine looked stunned. Logan grinned at the expression on his alter-ego's face; it mirrored his own from a few minutes ago. Xavier's face was pleasantly expressionless, like he was watching television.

Wolverine's mouth hung open in shock. Rogue reached up one finger and gently closed it. "Now then, Wolvie," she said teasingly. "Do I look like a kid? Act like a kid?" She leaned in close. "Kiss like a kid?"

All he could do was shake his head, still wide-eyed.

"Good," she said. "Because you've just got to learn to move with the times, baby." She looked up at Logan, standing next to Xavier, and called him over. When he approached, she addressed both of them. "Wolvie, Logan, I know you better than anyone else on the planet, which certainly has its ups and downs. One of the things I know about you is that you have _always_ fought with yourself. You are the single most conflicted man I know. If I leave you alone with yourself, you'll fight. If I send one of you back to your own head, the other of you is going to be smug and insufferable. I'm sorry, guys. You're both going to have to go back. You can sort this out in your own head, 'cause you're driving me crazy trying to do it in mine."

And with that, Rogue put one gentle hand on the face of each man. Her body, still sitting motionless in Xavier's office in a deep trance state, turned to face Logan who sat beside her on the couch. Gently she reached out both hands and, without ever opening her eyes, she cupped his face between her hands. In her mind, she sent each man an affectionate smile and, closing her eyes, she _pushed_ like she had with Bobby.

Logan and Wolverine both disappeared. In Xavier's office, Logan jerked in surprise at the sensation of part of his mind returning, and Rogue's hands fell away from his face. She slumped.

_(Author's note: I haven't forgotten about this one, I promise. I'm trying to get the ending written so there won't be another long lag before it gets posted. Bear with me; I'm doing the best I can with it. Oh, and reviews help me write faster:)_


	22. Wounded Animals are the Most Dangerous

_Special, just for Pia, 'cause she asked so nice..._

Chapter 22: Wounded Creatures are the Most Dangerous

Xavier's eyes snapped open to keenly regard the tormented man sitting before him. He could sense that it had worked, but was surprised at Rogue's decision to send even the original Wolverine back to his own head. He hoped she would be all right, alone in her head with just the enemy.

Logan's mind was reeling. Suddenly he could see and remember everything that his two selves had talked about, and he knew what Rogue's mind was like from the inside out. Man, was this what it was like to be a telepath? Suddenly he felt sorry for Xavier. His mind whirled with thoughts – his _own_ thoughts, which had been hidden away from him safely inside Rogue's mind for the past year – and he started to hyperventilate. His gaze swept up to Rogue's, whose eyelids were beginning to flutter open, and suddenly it was all too much. "I… I gotta go," he choked, and fled.

Too involved in his own thoughts to notice his surroundings, for once, he barrelled around a corner and crashed into Kurt. The impact knocked them both over. Kurt, being an acrobat, was on his feet in a flash and offered the slower Logan a hand.

Logan got slowly to his feet, still not paying attention to Kurt due to the whirling in his brain.

"Are you all right, _Herr_ Logan?" queried Nightcrawler.

"What?" Logan asked distractedly. He ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up all over. He was still breathing heavily; he felt as if he was running a marathon. Kurt's question finally registered. "'M fine," he mumbled. Turning, he staggered across the hall toward the door.

Nightcrawler, eyebrows drawn together in worry, thought for a moment. He had never known this man to be distracted – indeed, he had never met anyone as keenly single-minded as Logan. He thought the man might need his help at some point, so he decided to follow him at a safe distance.

Rogue slowly came back to consciousness in Xavier's office. Blinking, she sat up and looked for Logan. She flicked her eyes back up to Xavier's. "He's gone, isn't he?" Xavier nodded. Rogue sighed and combed her fingers through her hair, lifting the heavy mass up off her neck. "Hope he's all right," she muttered.

"Rogue," Xavier began, not quite sure how to phrase his question. "What was your purpose behind that show of affection? Before you pushed him – them – out of your mind?"

Rogue lifted one shoulder. "Reassurance, I guess," she said. She glanced at Xavier with a twinkle in her eye. "Mostly, 'cause it seemed like the thing to do at the time."

He smiled back. "I see." Shifting his weight in the chair, he asked, "When would you like to start on plan B? It is likely to take some time; quite probably all day."

Rogue sighed, exhausted. All this mental stuff was hard work! "How about tomorrow?" she asked. "Something tells me that Logan won't want to see me for a while anyway, after he knows what he knows."

"Tomorrow, then. Good night, Rogue."

Kurt was having a hard time keeping up with Logan, who seemed to know these woods fairly well for someone who hadn't actually spent much of his life there at Xavier's. He slipped from one dark tree-trunk to another in the night, and if Nightcrawler hadn't been able to see in the dark he never would have kept up with the other man. Finally, deep in the woods, Logan came to a small clearing and released his claws with a metallic-sounding _shink!_ sound. He growled, and plunged them into a tree. Slicing another tree, he growled louder. His slashing became more frenzied and his growls turned into a roar of fury, and Kurt came to understand that this clearing hadn't existed a year ago, before Logan's advent at Xavier's.

About twenty minutes later, surrounded by fallen trees and wood chips, Wolverine seemed to have worked through the worst of his fury. He sank to the forest floor, panting. The claws slid back into his knuckles. He calmed down after a few minutes, then gave an inquisitive sniff. And another.

"What the hell are you doin' out here, elf?" he growled when he recognized the scent: mostly human, but with an underlying hint of sulphur. He glanced up to see Kurt hanging by his tail from a tree branch, about fourteen feet up. His eyes glowed in the night.

Kurt knew he wouldn't be able to keep his presence a secret from Logan's sharp senses. "Praying for you," he said simply, tucking his rosary back into his belt. "For peace in your soul, _mein freund_," he told Logan sombrely. "You seem very… conflicted."

Logan barked a short, bitter laugh. "Conflicted. Right." He was silent for a long moment while Kurt continued to pray. Then he spoke again. "You'd think I'm old enough to know better, wouldn't you? Apparently there's just no plumbing the depths of human stupidity."

Kurt finished his mental recitation and opened his eyes again. "I have found that humans can run the entire gamut of being. For every stupid person, there is one equally wise. For every coward, there is a brave man. For every cynic, there is someone filled with hope. And do you know what the strangest thing of all is, _Herr_ Logan?" He let it lie until Logan looked up curiously.

Kurt let go and dropped down to crouch next to the other man. "I have found in my experience that both extremes are frequently demonstrated by the same person."

Logan slid out a claw, slowly, and used it to trace idle patterns in the forest floor. "I think in this case that I'm the fool and you're the wise man, Kurt. Best I can hope for is being a wise-ass."

"Would you like to tell me about your problem?" Kurt offered.

Logan glared at him suspiciously. "Why?"

Kurt's glowing eyes blinked slowly at him. "It is said that a burden shared is a burden halved. And forgive the observation, _mein freund_, but you appear burdened." His eyes travelled slowly around the clearing, now more full of sawdust than trees, and settled back on the man before him. His blue face held a hint of a smile that only Logan's night-vision could have picked up.

Logan was forced to chuckle at his new companion's sense of understatement. He was fairly a blunt and obvious man himself, but that's not to say he had no sense of irony or subtlety in others. His shoulders relaxed, and he closed his eyes and started to speak. "Well, there's this girl…"

_A/N: This is about 3 chapters from the end, so bear with me, guys. We're gonna get there, I promise! I'm amused by how many people have commented on how close this story is to this or that comic, because I've only read one or twoof the comics! My husband read them in his youth, and I'm mostly working off of his descriptions of everyone. Glad y'all approve, though; gives me a feeling of authenticity._


	23. Memory Palaces

Chapter 23: Memory Palaces

Next morning, Rogue rose early and was the first one downstairs. After a quick breakfast, she made her way to Xavier's office. "I'm ready," she told him, sticking her head in the door.

"Good morning, Rogue. Please come in and lie down on one of the couches, and we'll begin."

Rogue lay down on the one closer to the door, and as Xavier wheeled around the head of the couch, she grinned. "Doctor, my friends told me I should have my head examined," she joked, feeling like a patient in a Freudian psychologist's office. "Okay, what do we do?"

Xavier smiled. "Well, unless you want me to swing my pocket watch for you, I'm going to help you enter a state of hypnosis. Unlike when you meditate on your own, you're going to be in a highly suggestible state so that I can teach you what you need to know. For now, close your eyes. I'll contact you with my mind, and then you just follow me."

Rogue's mindscape was similar to what he had seen before. The mansion grounds were still there, with Pyro's giant block looking a little scorched and cracked by now. Xavier realized they had begun this project just in time; much longer and Pyro would have been loose in Rogue's mind again, wreaking havoc.

The first stop was to visit Magneto, in the torch on top of the Lady. After a brief consultation with his old friend, Xavier caused a large drawing room to appear around them. There was statuary, and several large, comfortable chairs, and lamps, and a fireplace, and books. Books galore. Thousands of books. Erik looked around at his new surroundings and smiled.

"Charles, you've outdone yourself," he murmured. His eyes lit up at the sight of all the books. "So if I understand you properly, you've built me my very own memory palace, _within_ the one you're going to build for Rogue? And what about the books? Whose are they?"

Xavier briefly explained the concept of a "memory palace" as a way to store information that one needn't keep in one's conscious mind, but that would always be accessible when needed. "The books are mostly yours and mine, though," he told his old friend. "Every book you've ever read, you will find in here, as well as every book _I've_ ever read. There are also some few hundred books that had been read recently by many of the people whose minds I have touched." He smiled. "Since you'll no longer have any company but Rogue's, and that only when she chooses, I thought you might find some value in the companionship of books."

Erik looked up sharply. "You mean I'll no longer be bothered by the lady's other mental prisoners?" Xavier nodded. "No Wolverine? No hormonally-driven teenage boys?" Xavier shook his head. Erik smiled. "Then, my dear Charles, I have no complaints."

The next stop was Meridian, Mississippi, to build a memory palace for David. His was much smaller, as he was so much younger than Magneto and had far fewer memories. Xavier arranged it so that Rogue would have access to whatever memories and experiences he _did_ have, but when he started to build the memory palace, David protested. "Actually, Professor… I'm pretty happy right here. If I could maybe get in a cable connection or something, that'd do me fine. I miss watching ESPN."

Xavier smiled. He spent so much time around political figures, mutants, telepaths, and deeply complex people, that touching David's mind was a sheer pleasure for him. He was so young and simple – his mind felt like flannel sheets in January, like comfort food, like a younger and more innocent time. "Very well, David. If you find you'd like anything else, you can simply let Rogue know in one of her dreams, and she should be able to fix it for you. And if she can't, then I will be able to."

David settled back onto Rogue's old bed with a smile. "Thanks!" He winked at Rogue, who had been with Xavier the whole time, but hadn't said anything, and asked, "Maybe the Playboy channel?"

Rogue gave him a _look_, but then closed her eyes for a moment and caused a television to appear. With a blink, she turned it on just in time for an ESPN commercial. David grinned, and waited expectantly. Rogue thought a minute, accessing her own memories of what Wolverine had liked to watch, and then blinked again. A scantily-clad, nubile female appeared on the screen. David's grin got wider. Rogue blinked again, and the screen suddenly went blank. David's grin faded. She explained. "This is the channel you can use to watch whatever I happen to be watching at the time, if I'm watching television. If I'm not, it'll just be like this. But I watch the news every night, and I watch hockey, and sometimes a sit-com. Is this okay?"

David asserted that it was perfect, and he settled back into the pillows on her frilly pink bed with a contented sigh.

Pyro was the most difficult to meet with. Xavier began by using his mind to control Pyro's mind, speaking to him as he had in the food court. Then he caused the imprisoning granite blocks to slide back into the earth and disappear.

Pyro burst forth in a sheet of flame. Rogue screamed, but Xavier just lifted his hand and forced the flames back away from them. "Pyro, stop!" he ordered, and Rogue could see Pyro trying to fight off Xavier's control.

Relentlessly, Xavier clamped down harder, and finally Pyro was held still. "Now then, John," Xavier said pleasantly, as though he weren't holding Pyro immobile and fuming. "We can get down to business."

Pyro was not cooperative. Xavier asked about where he had ever been in his life where he was happiest, but Pyro clammed up. Xavier just shrugged and probed into his mind, and stopped with a look of surprise. "If that's the case, John, then it is a pity you left," he said in his mild voice as he turned around and erected a magnificent facsimile of his own mansion. Embarrassed, John slunk away towards it.

"John! Wait a minute!" Rogue called. He turned back.

"The professor will make it so you can't get out of here," Rogue told him. "Your trying to take over my mind just won't work, because you won't have access to the rest of it – just this little corner right here. So how about you give over your kingdom-making and try to be friends with me?"

John rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right," and turned to go.

Rogue tried one more time. "John, if you burn this one down then you'll be stuck all alone in here with a burnt-out husk of a mansion with no one in it. So be careful, all right?"

He nodded without turning around, and then disappeared through the door.

"Well! That was easier than I expected," Xavier said. He smiled at Rogue's incredulous expression and explained, "I had expected him to try harder to hurt us. I hadn't taken into consideration that, if my mansion was his safest place, then deep down he might not want to really hurt us either."

"So what happens now?"

"Since you never know what might happen in the future, what I'll do is arrange a sort of temporary containment facility for anyone who might end up here as the result of an accident. I shall arrange for them to be, uh, 'siphoned' into the facility, so that you won't have to put up with their influence on your own actions and thoughts for even a moment. Then you can build their own 'memory palaces' for them at your leisure. Will that be satisfactory?"

"Yes! Professor, that sounds great! But what if it's someone who…" Rogue stopped and blushed a little. "If it's someone, let's say, whose influence I find useful…or that I don't mind, at any rate…" Her voice trailed off and she swallowed, looking away.

Xavier smiled a gentle, understanding smile. "Don't worry, Rogue. If you and Logan spend much time together, I feel sure somehow that it won't be long before he is back in your head. And you'll have full access to his 'influence' if you want it."

Rogue glanced up in relief, and gave Xavier a shy grin. "Shall we get started, then?"

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews; they helped me get my X-Men head back on when I was in danger of being swallowed by "The Labyrinth." Almost there!_


	24. The Human Mutant Guinea Pig

Chapter 24: The Human Mutant Guinea Pig

Down in the med-lab, Dr. McCoy was conducting the final few calculations prior to his first test. The only problem was, he had no one to test it on. Lab rats didn't carry the X-gene; only humans did. Hank was unwilling to test his new serum on another human. It best, it could alter the mutations of people whose powers focused inwards—but at worst, it could seriously harm them. He finished the calculations and mixed up the liquid, but then sat there staring at it thoughtfully.

Pity Xavier wasn't available to ask. Hank liked and trusted Xavier more than he did anyone else, but he knew the older man would be busy with Rogue all day. Should he test it on himself? No, because if it did cause serious harm there would be no other doctors around to help him. It would be best, really, to test it on Logan; if it worked, it would merely blunt his healing and feral mutations, and if it didn't work he would heal from it instead of being hurt. Trouble was, Hank would **never** ask someone else to act as a guinea pig.

His problem was solved a few minutes later when Logan himself strode in. "Hey, Hank," he greeted the huge blue doctor.

"Good morning, Logan!" Hank greeted happily. "What brings you down here on such a fine morning?"

"Been outside?" Logan asked shortly. He had, and it was pouring out. Hardly a "fine morning" by most people's standards.

Hank waved away the question. "I meant it is a fine morning for me. You'll recall the project we discussed the other day? I've been able to formulate a serum that has the possibility of suppressing an inwardly-directed mutation. So I'm having a wonderful day even though it is raining."

"Oh, yeah?" Logan was interested. "How's it work?" 

Hank frowned. "Well, that's the problem, you see. I don't know for sure that it _does_ work; I have no way to test it."

"Don't you have rats?"

"Rats haven't mutated yet; none of them have the X-chromosome. I'd have to test it on a human, but sadly my ethics forbid testing on humans."

Logan showed his teeth in a tight grin and started rolling up his sleeve. "Then isn't it lucky I'm a Wolverine?"

"Logan, this is likely to be dangerous," Hank told him, trying to hide his excitement at the thought of a willing volunteer. Hank had enough ethics not to even so much as ask another person… but if the other person volunteered freely—well, Hank really wanted to see whether the serum worked. For his own personal reasons. "You run the risk of severe injury if not death."

Logan scoffed. "Is that my cue to look worried? I'm damn hard to kill."

"I'm not sure about this, Logan. I've never done alpha-testing on a human being before."

Logan shrugged. "Won't be my first time acting as a lab rat," he said bitterly. "You've seen my files. At least this time it's voluntary, and in a good cause. So go for it."

"I would have to have you sign a waiver before trying it on you," Hank gave him one last warning.

Logan fixed him with a pointed look. "If we've got that much to do, then you'd better get a move on, hadn't you?"


	25. Cure for Mutation

Chapter 25: Cure for Mutation

By the end of the day, two major accomplishments had occurred at Xavier's. Rogue had regained her sanity, and Hank had proven his serum worked.

"There, now. The claws are still there, but I think you'll find you can't release them if you try," Hang told Logan after the X-ray. "And I wouldn't recommend trying in any case."

"Fair enough," Logan replied. "How we gonna test it, then?" His eyes scanned the med-lab, and he saw it. "Oh." Logan went over to the tray of scalpels that Hank hadn't put away yet, and picked one up.

"No, Logan!" Hank squawked, grabbing it out of his hand. "Those are as sharp as your claws! We can find a less damaging way to test it, I'm sure!"

Mildly panicked, Hank glanced around until he found what he was looking for. "Ah, this will do. I need a blood sample from you anyway." He got the needle and quickly prepped Logan's arm to draw the blood.

When he withdrew the needle, they both bent their heads and stared at the tiny pinprick. A bright drop of blood welled up, and Logan wiped it away impatiently.

Then another drop of blood came to the surface, and he grinned. "If I was still healin', it wouldn't bleed at all," he said.

Hank beamed at him; it was a little disconcerting with his huge mouthful of sharp teeth. Good thing Hank was such a genial guy. "Congratulations, Logan!" he said, clapping Logan on the shoulder heartily.

"Ow! Damn, Hank! You don't know your own strength, pal." Logan grimaced and rubbed his shoulder; then, struck by a sudden thought, he pulled off his shirt over his head and craned his neck to see the shoulder.

There was an immense reddened handprint there.

"Oh, Logan, I'm so sorry. I'm afraid that's going to bruise up," Hank said. Then he stopped in sudden realization and stared at Logan, who grinned back at him. "Logan. That's going to bruise up!"

"I'm going to have a bruise," Logan said, starting to laugh. "_I'm_ going to have a bruise!" The two men laughed together for a minute, and then, still grinning, Logan said, "Congratulations, big guy. You've cured mutancy!"

Struck by a sudden thought, he pulled his shirt back on. "I gotta go find Rogue! How long will this stuff last, doc?"

"It _should_ last twenty-four hours, but as this is the first test of it, I'm really not sure."

"What about her? If I'm okay with it, can she try it next?"

Hank adjusted his glasses on his furry nose and fixed Logan with a look. "**_If_**, after twenty-four hours, you have suffered no ill effects _and_ gone back to your normal mutation, **_then_** we can see about asking if Rogue is interested. With the proper waivers and all, because she would only be test case number two."

"I'll tell her," Logan called over his shoulder on his way out the door.

_A/N: I know it's a short chapter, but that's because the next one will be quite long.. _

_Oh, and one of my delightful reviewers pointed out to me that this story was mistakenly located in the X-Men comics section of FFN, rather than the X-Men: movie section. I hadn't realized there WAS an X-Men: movie section! My apologies—I have now moved it to the proper location._

_Thanks for all the reviews! I should have the next chapter up in a couple of days. Cheers!_


	26. News Flash in the Bedroom

Chapter 26: (News) Flash in the Bedroom

Logan left and made his way quickly up to Rogue's room. He rapped lightly at the door. He heard her sleepy question and grimaced; he'd awakened her. "It's me," he said in response.

"Oh! Come on in," she said. He heard the quiet click of her switching on her bedside lamp, and he pushed the door open.

Rogue lay there bathed in soft light, wearing her green satin nightgown.

Logan swallowed.

"Hi," she greeted.

"Hey. Sorry I woke you. How's your head after Xavier spent the day in it?"

"Never better. He fixed everything, and better yet, he taught me how to do it myself next time."

Logan nodded, relieved. He'd been really worried. "And Pyro?"

"Pyro is safely contained, but I'll still be able to access his powers if I need to, without him taking over. Magneto, too."

"So… you miss me up there yet?" he teased, one eyebrow raised.

Rogue shrugged. "A little. Xavier says we're always so careless, though, that I'll probably get you back at some point."

Logan chuckled. Xavier was probably right.

"So what's up? Where ya been, anyway?" She patted the bed and he sank down on the edge of it.

"Been with Hank all day. Got something I gotta show ya, all right?"

She nodded. With a smirk of anticipation over her reaction to hearing about the serum, he pulled his shirt off over his head.

Rogue raised her eyebrows at the sight of his bare chest. "Oh…kay. It's, um, very nice," she told him with a grin.

"What? Oh!" Logan's cheeks burned. "No, not—I mean, I wanted to show you my back, that's all." He turned away so she could see his aching shoulder.

In the dim light, she couldn't see the bruising, though, and she tried to stifle her giggles as she said, "The back is nice too, Logan. Not that Ah mind, but why the strip-tease?"

He growled and reached past her to turn her bedside lamp up two clicks brighter. "Look at my shoulder."

"Yes, the shoulders are quite decent too. What—oh, mah God, what happened to you?"

"Hank slapped me on the back. Guy that big ought to be more careful around us little fellows," he smirked.

Rogue's jaw dropped. "Why aren't you healin'?" she demanded.

Logan's smirk broadened into a grin. "'Cause today was the first day of my new career as a lab rat. Don't worry—it's not like my old career as a lab rat. Hank's made a serum that suppresses mutations for twenty-four hours."

Rogue blinked. "Uh…Ah'm sorry, but it sounded like you said Hank's serum suppresses mutations?"

He nodded, fiddling with his shirt. "For anyone whose mutation is focused inward, that is. Seems there's a difference in the kind of X-chromosome is involved. So around here, that'd be you, me, and the elf."

"The…? Oh, Kurt. Right. So how soon can Ah try it?" Rogue threw back the covers and sat up, evidently ready to run down there that instant.

He chuckled. "Relax, darlin'. Maybe tomorrow night, if my own mutation comes back and I have no ill effects, he'll let you try it. I asked him."

With the covers thrown back and Rogue's green nightgown riding up towards the tops of her thighs, Logan suddenly felt uncomfortably warm. He cleared his throat. "Uh, Rogue honey, you mind…?" he gestured sheepishly at the blankets.

"What? Oh!" She pulled the covers back up, flushing. "Sorry." She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment and then blurted out, "So are you afraid of my skin? Or you just don't like the view?"

"Believe me, that ain't it," he replied. "Even with my mutation suppressed, I have never been afraid of your skin. And the scenery's _real_ nice; it's just that I haven't paid admission to see it yet." Embarrassed, he didn't meet her eyes.

Rogue grinned. "Pretty scenic from my point of view, too," she pointed out, glancing at his chest. She reached up under the sheet and took his hand. "Logan, are you tryin' to tell me that underneath all that bristly bad-assedness, you're actually a gentleman?"

He shrugged, the tips of his ears going pink. He squeezed her sheet-wrapped hand, and then released it. "You're the one who had me in your head for the last year. You oughtta know better'n me."

"Yeah," Rogue said, thinking of those two amazing kisses they'd shared inside her mind. "About that…"

He shifted his weight on the bed. "Aw, listen," he began. "All that stuff you heard in there… well, you don't have to worry none about that. I won't bother you or nothin'."

"Is that what you want?" she asked.

He shrugged, still toying with the shirt.

She was quiet, waiting. She knew not to rush him. This stuff didn't come easy for a man who had been so defensive for so long about absolutely everything.

"What I want, I ain't gonna get, and that's prob'ly the way it should be." He fiddled with the shirt some more, while Rogue waited.

"I mean, so what if I got '_feelings_' for you?" he sneered at the word. "It don't mean nothin' in the grand scheme of things. You and I are friends and we like it that way, so anything else I got goin' on between my ears is my problem. I don't intend to make it yours as well."

"Okay, so what am I supposed to do about my feelings for you?" Rogue asked, point-blank. He had this all figured out, did he? Well, she might have a surprise or two for him.

He swivelled his head up to look at her and frowned. "What?"

Rogue sat up again, careful to keep covered by the sheet. All her bare skin was making her nervous being so close to all of his bare skin—and him with no healing mutation!

"Logan, you're my best friend. You've saved my life again and again. I know you better than I know anyone else in this world, and you mean more to me than anyone else either. I know I've got nothing to offer you. Ah cain't touch you, and Hank's serum might not work on me. I don't know. But whatever 'feelings' you have for me, well… Ah've got 'em for you, too."

He stared at her. "Are you kidding me?"

She rolled her eyes. "What, you think I go around kissing every guy in my head? No, I'm not kidding, Wolvie."

He grinned suddenly at the nickname, now that he knew that's what she'd called him that in her mind for the last year. "We _were_ kind of a pain in there together, weren't we?" he said, speaking of the two different parts of himself. He reached out and briefly touched a lock of her hair.

"Yeah, you were," she smiled back as she leaned into the touch. "Wolvie, want to do me a favour?"

"Yeah, what?"

Heart pounding, she dropped her gaze and asked, "If Hank's serum does work on me… will you kiss me again?"

Logan covered his hand with his shirt and reached down to cup Rogue's chin. He lifted her face to look into her eyes. "The serum lasts for twenty-four hours, Hank says," he reminded her.

She nodded, eyes wide. "Ah know."

"Don't schedule anything else," he told her.

Her mouth fell open in shock. "Wha…?"

"I want to take my time about it," he said with a wink. He stood up, stretched, and pulled his shirt back on.

"I gotta go, darlin'. I'm getting entirely too many ideas for a guy with no healing mutation." He bent down and pressed a kiss through her hair. "G'night."

"'Night, Logan." Rogue beamed at him and blew him a kiss.

_A/N: So what do y'all think? Too snuggly, not snuggly enough, or just right? I've got the next few chapters written already, but I'm going to tweak them a little more before uploading. R&R, if you please; I enjoy the encouragement._


	27. Medical Updates and Gossip

Chapter 27: Medical Updates and Gossip

Next morning, Hank's handprint was still there on Logan's shoulder. He spent most of the day down in the med-lab being monitored. He took the time to catch up on his reading; even Hank was impressed by the number of volumes Logan devoured while he lay propped up on the bed with sensors attached to him.

"Logan, I had no idea you were such a voracious reader," he said with a toothy smile. All of Hank's smiles were toothy.

"Gotta be, when you're reading such a prolific writer," Logan replied. He held up the dog-eared copy of Great Expectations that he had borrowed from the professor's library. David Copperfield, A Christmas Carol, and Bleak House lay in a stack on his tray table. "Man got paid by the word, and it shows."

"I'm surprised he appeals to you, since you're so laconic yourself," Hank said. He was a little impressed, not only at Logan's reading choices, but at his vocabulary as well. The Wolverine gave off such an aura of base instinct that he hadn't thought the man had had much of an education.

Logan turned a page, never lifting his gaze from the book. "Don't have to use a lot of words to be able to read 'em," he remarked. Then he put his finger in to mark his place and glanced up at Hank with a raised eyebrow. "They don't all have to be sixty-four-dollar words, either."

"What?" Hank grinned innocently. "You were keeping up with me in that department!"

"Yeah, but I don't like to," Logan told him, returning to the book. "Ruins my image."

Hank merely laughed and told him his secret was safe.

Rogue spent the day trying to avoid her former roommates. Jubilee was completely smitten with Gambit, the Cajun guy that Rogue had nearly burned to death down by the pond. Unfortunately, the Cajun guy seemed fairly taken with Rogue, and kept sending smouldering glances down the dinign room table at her. She chuckled to herself, thinking how very close she had been to setting him smouldering in a literal sense!

Jubilee and Kitty cornered her after breakfast. "Chica, you have got to tell us what's going on with you and the new guy!"

"Yeah," Kitty added, "And what about Bobby? And what's the deal with Wolverine? Hon, you've been acting weird ever since you got back from that mission, you know. Come on, spill!"

"There's not much to tell," Rogue said. "Bobby and I were headed towards a break-up anyway. He was just too possessive, and with all the junk going on I my head I just couldn't handle his insecurities. And Remy? You're welcome to him, Jubes. I can't stand the guy. And Logan's promised to gut him if he bothers me, so y'all might want to warn him off me."

"No problem, Roguey," Jubilee grinned, smacking her gum.

"Speaking of Logan, what's up with him lately?" Kitty asked. "He's been marginally less growly lately. He eased up and only scared me _half_ to death the other morning when he was looking for you."

Rogue told them about Hank's serum, and his using Logan as his guinea pig. Then she made the mistake of telling them about Logan's late-night visit to tell her about it.

Then she worsened the mistake, by telling them about his bruised shoulder.

Kitty stopped her "Waaaaait a minute, here, Rogue. How did you see his shoulder?"

"Well, he took off his shirt and turned around and showed me. How did you think I saw it?" Rogue could already tell where this was going, and she groaned inwardly.

That was all it took to set Jubilee off. "Holy shit, you saw him with his shirt off? He came to your room, woke you up, sat on your bed, and then took off his shirt?"

"Sure," Rogue replied, trying to maintain the innocence of the conversation. "How else was he going to show me his shoulder?"

"Then what happened?" Kitty asked eagerly.

"Well, then he told me about Hank's serum; we talked a bit more, and then he left."

Jubilee groaned. "Rogue, Rogue, what am I going to do with you? The Wolverine comes to your bedroom at night, takes off his clothes on your bed, and all you do is _talk_ with him? Girl, I gotta get you some sex-tinted glasses or something. You didn't know what he really wanted?"

Rogue stifled the urge to roll her eyes. This was why she didn't like hanging out with teenagers—they were always so damned _young_! "Jubes, last time I checked, my skin still kills people," she said shortly. "And just 'cause his healing mutation was suppressed doesn't mean he had a death wish! Has it crossed your mind that maybe, just maybe, my friend Logan just wanted to tell me about the serum and show me that it worked?"

Rogue was starting to get a little miffed at their assumption that she was on the same page they were regarding "boys." Did they think she was born yesterday, or that she _didn't_ have the psyches of three different men living in her head? Enough was enough. "Listen, I gotta go. I still got some meditatin' to do." She stalked off.

Jubilee turned to Kitty. "Five bucks says she heads down to the med-lab."

Kitty smiled. "No bet. Oh, there's Bobby! See you later, J."


	28. Rogue, aka Betatest

_A/N: I got a question about Logan's being such a big reader: it's actually canonical according to the comic books. It's in the current Wolverine run, issue #1 (thanks, Steph). Also, someone asked if this was based solely on the movies – it's not. I've introduced a few minor aspects of the comics as well; I've never read them except for a few that I found online, but there are some things in here that aren't found in the movies._

Chapter 28: Rogue, a.k.a. Beta-test

Jubilee would have lost the bet, as Rogue went back to her room to actually do the meditating that Xavier had recommended she do every day. She ended up falling asleep again until after dinner. "See what interrupted sleep will do to me," she muttered as she rolled off her bed and started fixing her hair. When she left the room, she went directly down to the med-lab to see how Logan was doing and to talk to Hank. It was evening, and she wanted to see if his mutation had returned yet.

"Hey, darlin'" Logan greeted her he marked his place and set his book aside.

Rogue smiled. "Hey." She leaned over him to look at the stack of books on the table. "You're keeping busy, I see."

He shrugged and ran his fingers down a lock of her hair as it fell across him. "Never get much chance to read when I'm travellin'. What are you doing down here?"

"Seeing how you're doing. Talking to Hank. Where is he, by the way?"

"Dunno. Haven't seen him for a few hours. He wouldn't stop interrupting my reading so I kicked him out a while back."

"Oh. Sorry that I interrupted it, then," Rogue said.

"Naw, you beat hell out of Dickens," Logan told her with a wink. "And you're a lot better looking than Big Blue." He took her gloved hand and held it up against his cheek for a moment before he kissed it and released it.

Charmed by the gesture, Rogue stroked down the side of his face. "So what's going on with your mutation?" she asked.

His eyes closed at the caress. "Not back yet. Hank's got stuff rigged so it'll set off some sort of alarm when it does come back. Ah, keep doing that, will ya?" Rogue had begun scratching the back of his scalp, and he moaned and leaned into it like an affection-starved puppy.

Chuckling at his reaction, she brought her other hand up to reach the other side. "I'm not sure I should be touching you, though. Not with your mutation suppressed. What if something happens? You wouldn't heal from it this time."

"Screw my mutation," Logan mumbled in ecstasy. "Just don't stop doing that. If it kills me, I'll die happy."

"I wouldn't have thought wolverines would make good pets," Rogue teased.

A blissful grunt was her only response.

Suddenly an alarm sounded, startling them both. Hank came rushing in and glanced at the monitors. He heaved a giant blue sigh of relief. "Congratulations, Logan," he said. "You're a mutant again."

"Lucky me," Logan replied. "I coulda told ya that, when my shoulder stopped hurting."

"Hello, Rogue. Would you excuse us for a few minutes so I can examine my lab-wolverine?"

Rogue grinned. "Sure, Hank."

A few minutes later Hank opened the door and motioned her back in. Logan was just pulling his shirt back on over his head.

"So you're back to normal?" she asked.

Instead of answering, he released his claws with a metallic _shnik _sound, and grinned at her. "As much as ever. Now it's your turn, darlin'."

"Really?" Rogue asked Hank eagerly.

Hank went into his protective doctor-mode, explaining about the dangers of the testing, the waivers he'd require and the whole thing. Rogue kept nodding eagerly, and when Hank finally gave her the waiver form, she scrawled her name on the bottom without even reading it.

Then she stopped and glanced at Logan. She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, and added a couple of sentences to the bottom of it. She slid the paper across the desk to Logan. "Here, you should probably sign this too."

Frowning, Logan took the paper and read what she had written: _"If this test has any ill effects on Rogue, I will not maim, dismember, or permanently injure Hank McCoy."_

He let out a grim chuckle and reached for the pen. "You know me too well, darlin'. Shouldn't take away all my fun like that."

Giving him an impish smile, she said, "Well… I just don't want you to take away all Hank's fun. You shouldn't worry so much about yours."

"Oh?" was all he said as his eyes took on a speculative gleam.

Hank took the paper without a word. He chuckled at the addendum at the bottom of it, and went to prepare the serum. He came back in with the needle prepared.

He donned rubber gloves and administered the shot. Rogue rolled her sleeve back down and asked, "How long…?"

"We'll give it fifteen minutes, to give it a chance to work its way all through your system, before we test it." He pulled his gloves back off and dusted offthe coating of fine white powder that clung to his blue-furred hands.

The minutes ticked slowly by. Logan reached for his book again, and Rogue closed her eyes and began to meditate. Hank busied himself with paperwork.

After twelve minutes, Rogue came out of her reverie and cleared her throat sharply. Logan looked up, putting away his book as Rogue began pulling off her gloves, finger by finger. The action struck him as innocently erotic, and he watched with a raised eyebrow, intrigued.

The gloves off, she leaned forward toward Logan. Hank put down his papers and watched, ready to leap to the aid of Wolverine if anything happened.

"Go ahead, Rogue," Hank urged quietly.

Silently, Wolverine put out his hand. Rogue took a deep, shuddery breath, and reached out to him. She touched his skin gently, first with one finger, then two, and finally her whole hand clasped his.

Logan began to smile, a slow, delighted smile that washed over his whole face. "No pull," he remarked.

"No pull," she confirmed, beaming. Quickly she reached for his other hand and held it with hers. "Logan…" A tear rolled down her face as the emotion of the moment got the better of her. "I can touch you!"

Hank smiled at them both. If he didn't know better, he might start to think that these two… well,it was none of his business."Rogue, I'd like to see you in twelve hours, to make sure everything's going all right. If you have any trouble, any at all—or even just a question—before then, I want to see you down here right away."

"Okay, Hank," Rogue said, excitedly throwing her arms around the giant blue doctor. He hugged her back, chuckling.

She did the same to Logan, and he grinned and picked her right up off the floor and spun her around. "Come on, darlin', let's get out of here," he said, grabbing her hand and tugging her out the door like an eager teenager.

Hank raised a quizzical eyebrow. He wondered whether Xavier knew about this little flirtation? Then he remembered that Xavier had spent the entire day yesterday ordering Rogue's mind—of course he knew.

Well, if he knew and had no objection, then Hank certainly didn't. He'd read both of their case files and realized that although their romance would certainly be unconventional (if they developed one), it might end up being good for both parties.


	29. The Rival's Departure

Chapter 29: The Rival's Departure

Gambit sped down the New Jersey Turnpike, wondering whether he should have stayed at Xavier's or not. Although he was powerfully attracted to that burning-hot Rogue, she didn't seem encouraging in the slightest. Jubilee, on the other hand, was so obvious in her interest that it turned him right off.

Gambit was a man who enjoyed the pursuit just as much, if not more, than the capture. That untouchable Rogue had captivated him, simply because of her forbiddenness. He smiled a little to himself as he tucked a lock of long auburn hair behind his ear. His summons had come at a very bad time; still, it had to be answered if he expected to keep his status intact back home in New Orleans. But he promised himself, right then and there, that as soon as the family emergency was over, he would be back to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters… and then he would get his chance at the Rogue.

_A/N: Sorry about the brevity of this chapter. This isn't meant to be a tease, but a setup for the next chapter which should be going up tomorrow or the day after--just as soon as I possibly can, I promise. Yes, this story is still in progress, and I do update at least once a week and usually twice. So you lovely reviewers who have just joined the party -- fear not! I'm nearing the end and have no intention of deserting it._


	30. Toucha Toucha Toucha Touch Me!

Chapter 30: Toucha Toucha Toucha Touch Me!

Rogue was, at that very moment, blissfully ignorant of Gambit's thoughts… or even his very existence. She was busy experiencing her first real kiss.

It was late, and they had gone outside. It was dark, and Rogue stumbled over a rock. Wolverine caught her before she fell. Then, his teeth flashing in the moonlight as he grinned, he offered her his bare hand. "Hold on; I can see better than you."

They went down to the bench beside the pond, that Rogue was beginning to think of as "her" spot, and sat down. Logan put his arm around her and turned her face towards him.

Rogue blinked and looked away.

"You okay, darlin'?"

She nodded. "It's just that… oh, I can't believe this, Logan. I'm nervous."

"So am I," he admitted. Without another word, he bent his head and fitted his lips to hers. Best cure for nervousness he'd ever found: getting on with whatever made him nervous.

Rogue had been kissed before: once by David, whom she'd sent into a coma, and once or twice by Bobby while they were dating. They'd been nice, if a little hurried, but not always ending well.

Logan kissed her as if he had all night; which, she thought honestly, he really did. His lips touched hers gently, his kisses warm and leisurely.

Logan found he was enjoying this. He knew they wouldn't go any further tonight than kissing, and it was the first time in his 15 years of memory that he'd ever sat down with a woman he liked and respected, to just kiss. Come to think of it, he didn't think he'd ever kissed a woman he respected before. There had been Jean, yes—but the fact that she was willing to go behind Scott's back to mash lips with him had brought her down in his opinion quite a bit.

This was also a big responsibility—kissing for Rogue, because of her mutation, was a huge deal. Probably a bigger deal than full-out sex would be for most women. He wanted to make sure it was good for her, comfortable but not complacent, sexy but not pushy. So now he touched her face lightly, cupping her jaw in his hands as he tasted her mouth in an unhurried manner. He let it escalate when she was ready, and pulled her in closer running his hands up and down her bare arms. His hands found hers, and stroked them as his mouth moved over hers—Rogue was so used to wearing gloves that this touch was powerfully intimate for her.

He lost track of how long the spent out there on the bench, making out like a couple of kids; by the position of the moon, it must have been several hours. Rogue shivered.

Logan nodded. "Getting cold out here. Let's go in." He rose painfully, adjusting his jeans with a self-conscious grimace (he wasn't used to just kissing without going further!) and offered her his hand.

They got inside just as the clock struck two, and Rogue yawned. "Oh, this is bad," she admitted with a rueful smile. "Ah'm so tired! But I don't want to stop touching and waste some of the twenty-four hours!"

"Fair enough," Logan said. They were at the doorway to her room. "Go on in; I'll be back in a minute." He headed towards his own door.

_A/N: Kindly forgive me for the chapter title. It's after 1 AM in my time zone and I really couldn't help it!_


	31. Operative Word is Sleep

Chapter 31: Operative Word is Sleep

Rogue went in and sat down on her bed. Her heart was pounding and she felt flushed. What if he wanted to sleep with her? She knew he liked her and all, but was she ready for that sort of "plunge" into the world of physical contact? His kisses were the stuff of her dark and secret dreams; ever since her mutation had surfaced, she'd wondered what it would feel like to have a man hold her and kiss her like that. Her body was buzzing with sensation and arousal; if Wolverine wanted to take the kissing further, she wasn't sure she'd have the strength (or the will) to turn him down, even though she knew it would be moving much too fast.

He was back, softly closing the door behind him. He was bare-chested and wearing a pair of cut-off sweatpants. He carried a bundle of clothing with him. "Here," he said, tossing them to her. "Brought you some stuff, if you don't have anything to sleep in."

Mystified, Rogue pawed through the clothing. There was another pair of knit shorts and a couple of tank tops.

He went on, "I didn't know if you had anything to sleep in that shows any skin. I figured you can wear that if you want, and I'll sleep in here with you, and we don't have to stop touchin'."

Rogue glanced up at him, open-mouthed with surprise. That was one of the nicest things anyone had ever offered to do for her.

Logan misinterpreted her expression. "Not like that, Rogue. Even if you can touch, that's no reason for rushing things between us. I said sleep, and that's what I meant."

She blushed a little, but looked him in the eye. "But what if this is the only time I'll ever be able to touch?"

He shrugged, motioning for her to change her clothes while he turned his back. "Then when we get to that point, we'll think of something else. I'm not gonna rush ya, darlin'."

Rogue changed quickly into his sweatpants-shorts and tank top, and then went up and slid her arms around him from behind. Resting her bare cheek against his naked back, she sighed happily… and sleepily. "Thanks, Wolvie," she murmured.

He turned around and put his arms around her, kissing her forehead. "Let's get you to bed before you fall asleep right here and I'll have to carry you."

Rogue gave a half-hearted chuckle. "You cain't tell me Ah'm too heavy for you, Logan. Why, you must weigh close to 300 pounds!"

"All the more reason not to add your 120 to it," he said crisply. Keeping his arms around her, he manoeuvred her over to the bed and laid her down on it. "Roll over," he ordered. He crawled in behind her, slipping one arm beneath her head and wrapping the other around her waist. He pulled her close, his bare legs touching hers, his cheek against her cheek, and his hand slipping under the edge of her shirt to stroke the soft skin of her belly.

"You've got the most gorgeous skin," he murmured.

She huffed a sleepy laugh. "Yeah… too bad it kills people."

He pressed a kiss gently behind her ear. "Not tonight, it don't. Go to sleep, darlin'."

Rogue slept, and after a while, Logan did too.


	32. Hauntings

Chapter 32: Hauntings

He had the nightmares. Water closing over his head, the agony of the hundreds of cuts on his body, the adamantium injected to line his bones—he woke up gasping for breath and yelling in terror.

And then he realized he wasn't alone. Rogue was sitting up, holding him in her arms and stroking his hair. His head was on her shoulder, the softness of her bosom under his cheek. "Shhhh," she told him. "It's just a nightmare, sugar. You're safe now."

He clung to her, gasping, for a while until his heart stopped hammering in his chest. The adrenaline began to dissipate, leaving behind a sense of comfort and security that he didn't remember ever having felt before.

He took a deep breath and grinned, rubbing his cheek against her breasts. Maybe it was an infantile instinct, for a man to seek comfort at a woman's breasts, but he'd never had it work quite so directly before.

"You okay, sugar?" Rogue asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks. I sometimes get these… well…"

"Yeah," she replied softly. "I remember. I used to get 'em too."

"Oh, yeah? What stopped yours?" he wanted to know. Did she have a secret for getting rid of nightmares?

She lay back down, nestling close. "I got you out of my head. I haven't had one of your nightmares since I pushed you back into your own head."

"What?" he sat up sharply. "You had MY nightmares?"

She nodded.

Logan lay back down, feeling like scum. "Aw, shit, honey, I'm sorry."

She shrugged, which looked odd in her lying-down position. "Small price to pay for you savin' mah life, sugar. Now go back to sleep, will ya? Tomorrow's going to be a big day for me, and Ah want you rested!"

Grinning in spite of his shock, he gathered her close again. "Yes, ma'am."

They slept.

xxxXXXxxx

It was close to dawn when Remy LeBeau knocked on the door of the mansion. Jubilee, always first to rise in the mansion, answered it. "Hi, Remy," she greeted brightly, with a hint of flirtation. "I thought you'd left!"

He flashed her a killer smile. "I couldn't stay away from you, cherie." He came in and put his arm around her. He leaned in close and whispered, "I've seen how you look at me."

Jubilee grinned, unabashed. "That just means you've got eyes, dude! But I thought sure you were only looking at Rogue."

"The girl who cannot touch?" He ran a partially-gloved hand down Jubilee's arm. "And what would I want with a girl who cannot touch?"

His voice went low and silky, and Jubilee swallowed. "Uh, Remy… you're going to want to go tell the professor you're back. Maybe later we can go have breakfast or something?"

"Perfect," he purred. Tipping her face up to his, he placed a lingering kiss on her lips. Then, giving her a devilish smile, he turned and swept down the hall with his trenchcoat billowing out behind him.

"Whoa," was Jubilee's well-considered summation of the encounter. It was followed by a squeal of excitement as she raced up the stairs to wake up Kitty and tell her about it.


	33. Waking the Dead

Chapter 33: Waking the Dead

Kitty didn't wake happy, so Jubilee shrugged and went next door to Rogue's room. She banged on the door loudly (Rogue was sometimes hard to wake).

She heard the murmur of sleepy voices and some rustling, and then Rogue opened the door blinking sleepily. "What's goin' on, Jube?" she said through a yawn. She cast a self-conscious glance back into the room.

Jubilee picked up on it. "What's going on with you? You got company in there, Roguey?"

Rogue nodded, too tired to dissemble. "Yeah, so keep it down, will ya?"

Jubilee eyed Rogue's bare hands and arms (and legs) warily. "Rogue, sorry for asking, but… are you killing someone in there? I heard voices, and you're practically naked here…"

Rogue rolled her eyes. "Jubilee, what do you want?" she demanded.

"I just wanted to tell you that Remy's back—and he made a pass at me!"

Rogue nodded. "Good for him. I didn't know he'd been away. Good night." She started to close the door, but Jubilee blocked it with her arm.

"No, really, Rogue, what the hell's going on? Who've you got in there, with you being all uncovered and all?" Jubilee was starting to get concerned. Rogue had been acting a little secretive lately, ever since she'd gone on that mission with the X-Men. Had she gone off the deep end or something?

There was a rustling sound, and then Wolverine appeared, looking surly. Well, even surlier than usual, Jubilee amended her thought. He looked at her with an expression of extreme dislike.

"Listen, kid: take your arm off the flamin' door this second, or I'll take it off… and I ain't talkin' about the door." He growled.

Jubilee gulped and took her arm off the door.

"Good. Now, turn around and get the hell out of our morning. You got that?"

Jubilee backed up a little, but still gazed suspiciously at Rogue. "Roguey, are you okay?" She wondered if Wolverine was somehow hurting her friend or something.

Rogue sighed. "Ah'm fine, Jube. Just—just leave us alone for a while, will you?"

"If you're sure you're okay…" Jubilee pressed.

Rogue, having reached the limits of her patience, reached out and placed her bare hand on Jubilee's shoulder in a mockery of a concerned gesture. Jubilee shrank away from the touch, her eyes going wide.

"I said," Rogue repeated, patting Jubilee's cheek lightly with her other hand, "I'm _fine_."

Gasping with fear, Jubilee broke and ran.

Rogue exchanged grins with Logan. "Wonder how long it'll take her to realize I didn't hurt her when I touched her?"

"Not anytime soon. She doesn't strike me as being long on brains. Now come back to bed, darlin'; we still have a couple hours before you have to go see Hank."


	34. An Ugly Wakeup Call

Chapter 34: An Ugly Wake-up Call

When they got there, the med-lab was in chaos. Papers lined the floor, and Hank's computer was smashed into smithereens. Hank himself was lying face-down in a pool of blood. Rogue ran for the phone while Logan knelt beside Hank and rolled him over.

"Professor! There's been an accident or break-in or something, down in the med-lab. Hank's hurt and everything's been vandalized!" Rogue shouted into the phone.

Scott and Ororo were there before anyone else. "How's Hank?" Scott demanded.

"Not dead," Logan answered, and then added, "Yet." He'd managed to manoeuvre Hank onto a stretcher and starting washing the blood off. Rogue was struck by how gentle Logan was, while separating the blood-clotted mats of hair with deft fingers, and mopping the blood from Hank's furry head. "He took a hell of a hit, though. Wouldn't be surprised if he's unconscious for a while."

"So he won't be able to tell us what happened," Scott summarized.

"No… but give me a minute here. There's something…" Logan said, as he sniffed deeply and looked uneasy.

"You got something?" Scott asked.

"Yeah… I don't know… maybe. I can't smell it through all the blood, though."

"Here, let me help," Ororo volunteered. With a nod, she took the bloody rag out of Logan's hand and took over. He stood up and rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the tension that the smell of blood always left him with.

Kurt appeared in the doorway of the room with his trademark "bamf!" sound and silently went to help Ororo.

"Oh, great. Now all I can smell is blood and brimstone."

"Sorry, _mein freund_. I thought it best to get here quickly," Kurt explained mildly.

Logan grunted. He stalked around the med-lab, sniffing. He paid special attention to the papers on the floor, and spent a great deal of time bent low over the remains of the computer, examining and inhaling near some of the larger bits.

Ororo and Kurt finally got Hank cleaned up and comfortable, and the smell of blood and Kurt's brimstone began to dissipate. Logan began to recognize a smell, one that he remembered well and had hoped to never smell again. Just to be sure, he picked up a chunk of circuit-board and brought it with him into Hank's office. Scott and Rogue followed him. He closed the door and sniffed it again, closing his eyes. Then he opened them again and glared at the two of them. One disgusted word explained all that had happened.

"Mystique!"

_A/N: Three cheers for Nicki, my one reviewer who guessed what was wrong in chapter 32. Bravo!_


	35. A Change of Plan

Chapter 35: A Change of Plans

Ten minutes later found the three of them in Xavier's office, along Xavier himself, Ororo, and Kurt.

"I don't understand how Mystique could have snuck on campus," Ororo protested. "What about the new security gate? It's voice-activated, even the password."

"She can imitate anyone," Kurt answered. "Even their voice."

"Okay, so who was she imitating?" 'Ro glanced at Xavier expectantly.

He shook his head. "I have no way of knowing. Not without doing scans of every person in this building and comparing them to our security tapes. I don't see how—"

He was interrupted by a knock on the door. Jubilee opened it and stuck her head in. "Hey, professor, I was just wondering if… whoa! Serious meeting, huh? Sorry I interrupted."

"What is it, Jubilee?" Xavier asked in a patient voice.

Jubilee grinned at him. "I was just wondering if you knew where Remy was headed after he talked to you this morning."

Xavier frowned. "This morning? Jubilee, Remy left yesterday for New Orleans."

Logan gave a satisfied snort, but Jubilee protested. "No, no, he came back this morning. We had a breakfast date planned for after he talked to you. I told Kitty and Rogue about it already…" her gaze flicked over to her friend, and it reminded her of their talk. She went on, without taking a breath, "And by the way, what the hell was Wolverine doing, sleeping in her room with her last night, and then threatening to take my arms off this morning?"

Wolverine growled. Xavier put up a restraining hand. "Whatever he was doing is his business, and Rogue's. Remy Lebeau left for New Orleans yesterday; if you saw him this morning, I fear we have our answer as to how Mystique was able to sneak on-campus."

Jubilee said nothing for a long moment, digesting this information. Rogue watched her friend, slightly worried. With Jubilee's exuberant emotions, how would she feel about having been the one to let Mystique onto the campus and attack Hank? Would she feel guilty? Would she feel responsible, like it was her fault? Would she be all right?

She needn't have concerned herself. Jubilee made a disgusted face and coughed. "Ew! You mean I got kissed by a _chick_? A _BLUE_ chick?"

"I'm afraid so," Ororo told her firmly. "You'll get over it, I'm sure. Meanwhile, we were in the middle of a meeting here, Jubilee."

"Oh, don't mind me," the girl said airily, throwing herself into an empty chair.

Wolverine growled and took a half-step closer to her.

"…I'll just be on my way, then," Jubilee finished quickly, and then ran out the door.

Scott gave the shorter man a tight grin. "Good show," he remarked quietly. Logan grunted.

"Professor," Rogue began slowly, "What are we going to do about Hank's research? Mystique took his serum, all his notes, and destroyed his computer."

"We go after her." Scott said.

"And we kill her," Logan added. For once, Scott didn't contradict him.

"What about Hank?"

"I have another friend who's a doctor, who is used to working with mutants," Xavier said. "He'll come and look after Hank, while you X-Men will go after Mystique, who is probably acting under Magneto's orders."

Rogue's eyes widened, and Logan groaned. "Great," he said grimly. "What does Buckethead want with Hank's serum? I thought he _didn't_ want mutants to have to hide."

"Perhaps he wishes to remove the option from us," Xavier said. "In any case, though, let me try Cerebro to see if I can find where Mystique has gone." He wheeled himself from the room.

"Okay, assuming he comes back with some info, we've got to be ready to suit up," Scott said, switching effortlessly into leader-mode. "Storm, you and Jean can… aw, shit," he trailed off. This would be their first real mission without her. He buried his face in his hands.

It was Logan, of all people, who stepped forward. He squeezed Scott's shoulder, and absently left his hand there as he spoke. "How 'bout this: I'll take point. I can take out more of 'em as I go, and when he figures out I'm there, old Buckethead won't be able to resist pulling me apart to see what makes me tick. While he's doing that, Kurt can poof in there and poke around for Hank's serum while Storm and Cyc here can keep them occupied from a distance." He patted Scott's shoulder briskly. "How's that sound, Summers?"

Scott nodded, lifting his face from his hands. "Not a bad plan, considering the source," he said, but the insult lacked sincerity. He nodded. "All right, we'll do it that way. Any questions?"

"One. What am I going to do?" Rogue asked.

"You're going to stay here, where it's safe," Logan told her. "You don't have me in your head anymore, honey, and that means you've got zero combat skills. Mystique would wipe the floor with you."

Rogue raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" She glanced at Scott. "You don't think you'll need me?"

He shook his head. "With your mutation suppressed, Rogue, you'd be a sitting duck. Especially with no combat skills."

"What about this?" Rogue asked, lifting her hand suddenly and floating Logan's silver lighter out of his pocket. Without touching it, she flicked it open and lit it up before she finally reached over to cup the tiny flame in her palm. "What if Pyro is there? Wouldn't you want to fight fire with fire?" She concentrated, making the flame larger, before leaning forward and blowing it out.

"Not to mention," she went on, closing the lighter with her hand and reaching over to drop it back into Logan's pocket. She opened her hand suddenly and raised it, and Logan's body lifted about 6 inches off the ground. "I might be the only person able to keep Magneto from turning Wolvie into a pretzel."

Kurt grinned, his teeth flashing white in his dark blue face. Storm turned away to hide her smile. Rogue gave Logan an eyebrows-raised, "see-I-made-my-point" look as he dangled there, helpless.

"You wanna put me down, darlin'?" he asked with a scowl.

With a smirk that rivalled his own, she let him down. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if he were counting to ten, and then cocked an eyebrow at Scott. "What do you think, Cyc?"

Scott shrugged. "I think she makes a hell of a point."

Grudgingly, Logan had to agree.

"Okay, new plan: Rogue, you take point with Wolverine, and give Buckethead a run for his money," Scott said, unconsciously adopting Logan's nickname for their enemy. "Everything else remains the same."

Xavier rolled back in at that moment. "Mystique is heading toward Magneto's hideout. Apparently, she did not expect us to discover her theft quite this soon; she must have been unaware of Hank's two 'test subjects.' If you hurry, you might be able to catch her before she returns to their home base."

"Let's go," was Scott's reply. He paused for a moment, eyes closed, as the professor dumped all the information into their minds that he had learned in Cerebro, and then nodded once before heading down to the locker room.

_A/N: I know it's been a while since I updated;you all have my apologies. I'm just blocked on this story, though, and even though I know where I want to take it, I have no idea how to get there nor any motivation for writing. Please bear with me; I'm doing my best. It might be another week or even longer till my next update, but I promise I haven't abandoned this one._


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